Up to 4.9 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico in the Deepwater Horizon travesty of last year, leaving 11 humans dead and who knows how many fish and water fowl, not to mention the revenues of local fishermen and tourist spots. 

Now it appears that BP is looking for a celebrity to help show how the company and the Natural Resource Damage Assessment “are working together to manage the process of cleaning up the environment in and around the Gulf of Mexico,” according to a casting call obtained by Politico.com.Continue reading...

The Hangover 2 was responsible for the most profitable Memorial Day box office of all time. Globally, the film has already earned nearly $200 million after less than a week.

Thailand, where the film is set, isn't laughing though. Jaunted points out that, in addition to the film's portrayal of Bangkok as a crime-infested armpit that swallows people up, the cast has been badmouthing Thailand during its press junkets.

Ed Helms complained of food poisoning. Justin Bartha, his co-star, said he "saw some dirty sh*t in Thailand that got burned into my eyes." Thailand, meanwhile, isn't helping its cause by declaring a bizarre values war on foreigners.Continue reading...

Other than the fact that they're both sequels of massive box office successes, the two big films opening this weekend, Kung Fu Panda 2 and The Hangover: Part 2, couldn't be more different. One is for immature audiences and the other is Kung Fu Panda 2. KIDDING! 

DreamWorks' PG-rated Kung Fu Panda sequel will go up against the Warner Bros. R-rated Hangover return in a battle for completely different demographics. And when it comes to product placement, the two franchises are, as you might expect, different beasts as well.Continue reading...

Of all the places in the world that need a geographic rebrand, a good argument can be made for Mexico's Ciudad Juarez being at the top of the list. Actually, about 10,000 arguments — the number of deaths attributed to drug gang warfare in the city in the last few years.

Some of the top, first-page results for a simple Google search of "Ciudad Juarez" include: "Female homicides in Ciudad Juárez"; "All about the brutal murders of Ciudad Juarez"; "Ciudad Juarez sees 40 killed in violent weekend"; "Ciudad Juarez residents flee Mexico's 'dying city'"; and, "Drug War in Mexico - A Ciudad Juarez Neighborhood on the Brink."

No surprise, much like a man trying to escape a sordid past, the blood-soaked city is changing its name. Almost.Continue reading...

From America's hallowed land of cheese comes a case study about what can happen when a popular viral movement gets adapted by a commerce-driven entity.

With an eye to the University of Wisconsin-promoting video Teach Me How to Bucky, above, the Wisconsin county of Sheboygan has launched a new tourism campaign, "How do you Sheboygan?" Local reaction is hostile, but that doesn't mean it won't work (though it probably won't).Continue reading...

Masdar City, near Abu Dhabi, means "The Source" in Arabic. It's also not, technically, a city.

Masdar is a "cleantech cluster," and a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company — itself a division of the Mubadala Development Company, an Abu Dhabi government initiative "that seeks to be a catalyst for the economic diversification of the Emirate."Continue reading...

Fargo, North Dakota is finally done fighting and is ready to embrace the truth.

Many people most associate the city with the 1996 film Fargo. And most associate the movie with one scene: "the wood chipper." Indeed, in a Google search for "Fargo," all the top results are about the film, not the biggest city in the state of North Dakota.

So, the Fargo-Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau got itself a wood chipper — and a Facebook page to help promote the dang thing.Continue reading...

With China forecast to be the top source of tourism by 2015, the construction of the world's sixth Disney amusement park is being closely watched, particularly as it pits two key Chinese cities against each other in a bid to "own" the Disney brand with the country's population.

The third Disneyland in Asia after Hong Kong and Japan, Disneyland Shanghai park is slated to open in five years, part of a $4.4 billion Disney resort that will include hotels, a commercial and restaurant complex, a lake, and two subway lines into the city. 

As much as it's a huge branding opportunity for Shanghai, it's an even bigger opportunity for Disney, whose CEO Bob Iger tells today's Wall Street Journal that the company's ambitions in China extend far beyond the Shanghai theme park.Continue reading...