Brand marketers have long been intrigued with the use of scent as a potential differentiating feature. Maybe it all started with Smell-O-Vision, an ill-fated technology that was used to pump different smells throughout movie theaters in 1960. Smell-O-Vision stunk — it died after just one movie.

Nowadays, scent is a key part of any number of beauty and cosmetic products, typically targeting women. Increasingly, though, scent plays an important role in men's products, especially deodorants. And the latest innovation is a masculine knock-off of a concept that was first aimed at women in 2005 — the scented razor.Continue reading...

Apple store employee moves to unionize.

Chipotle expansion plans hit by rising costs.

Citi defends delay in disclosing hacking.

Dell gives precedence to Chinese market for tablet roll-out.

Dole blitzes US cities to pump up banana sales.

Edmunds.com to launch Groupon-type channel for cars.

Ford is ordered to pay $2 billion to dealers in old pricing dispute.Continue reading...

Super Bowl XLV posts record TV audience to become most-watched TV broadcast in US history. Chrysler's Super Bowl ad continues to reverberate as Volkswagen ponders what it’s actually getting out of buzz around “Little Vader” ad. Papa John’s keeps Super Bowl pizza mojo going with game-related promotions.

AOL's merger with Huffington Post is being closely watched as media/web bellwether.

British Airways projects pact with American Airlines will boost revenues.

Chipotle comes under immigration scrutiny for workers. 

Coca-Cola releases sustainability report.

Current TV, Al Gore’s outfit, expected to pick up Keith Olbermann.Continue reading...

What do Schick, Subway, H&R Block, Taco Bell, Wrigley and GM have in common? They’ve all pulled their ads from MTV’s controversial series Skins after the Parents Television Council (PTC) called it “the most dangerous show” on TV and began targeting advertisers last week to jump ship.

During the second episode of the US remake of the racy British teen drama, movie studios picked up the slack. MTV ran ads during Monday's broadcast, including Sony's Adam Sandler comedy Just Go With It, Screen Gems' thriller The Roommate, Warner Bros.' The Rite and Unknown, DreamWorks and Disney's I Am Number Four, and Universal's Sanctum 3D.

Why would movies support the controversial series while chewing gum and fast food brands are running scared?Continue reading...

The eager seductress has a long and honored heritage in the business of branding and marketing men’s shaving supplies.

Remember Gunilla Knutson, the Swedish model who purred, “Take it off – take it aaallll off!” in those Noxzema Medicated Instant Shave Cream commercials in the late Sixties and early Seventies? None too subtly, “The Stripper” song played in the background.

Well, at least in those ads, plenty still was left to the imagination.

Schick apparently has decided that the imagination is overrated and outdated, at least when it comes to advertising its Schick Hydro razor. In the spot above, a young woman appears to disrobe in front of a guy who probably was only hoping for hydration, and then throws her top at him.Continue reading...

Edge gel hopes to make its brand stand out by looking at the lighter side of shaving.

In partnership with humor website Funny or Die and comedian John Caparulo, Edge is soliciting user-created videos on what irrititates men most; just tape and upload a gripe (the funnier, the better) on Edge's website for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas for four. It's also luring them back with $500 weekly drawings.

The brand's digital outreach is being promoted on websites for The Onion, Sports Illustrated and Men’s Health with the tagline ("Comic relief for life's annoying situations") and a clean-cut message: Edge helps prevent shaving irritation amidst life’s everyday general irritations.Continue reading...

In the razor wars, "better" has always equaled "more blades."

It seems like eons ago when a non-electric razor had a single blade. Before we knew it, we were told that men were supposed to shave with three-blade razors. When three blades evoked a yawn, Schick, the smaller competitor to market leader Gillette, upped the ante with Quattro, its four-blade razor that hit in 2003. Not to be out-bladed, Gillette countered with Fusion, a five-blade razor, two years later.

Now Schick hopes to win the stubble wars, but not by increasing blade count. The company is introducing the Hydro, which will be available in both three- and five-blade versions. The breakthrough this time is a proprietary "gel reservoir," instead of a lubricating strip, to improve shaving comfort. TV ads pitching the Hydro, which takes direct aim at Gillette, break today.Continue reading...

Green marketing is in the spotlight ahead of Earth Day on Thursday; Earth Day's 2010 sponsors include P&G, Siemens, Wells Fargo, UPS, and Philips. [Brandweek | TreeHugger]

Toyota is set to agree to a $16.4 million fine today for not telling U.S. officials about a pedal defect. On Friday, the automaker recalled 600,000 minivans over rust problems, and confirmed safety concerns with its Lexus GX 460 model SUV. [AP | USA Today]

KLM, Lufthansa, and British Airways test flights are giving hope to the millions of passengers grounded by Iceland's volcanic ash. European transport ministers meet today to discuss resuming air travel. Air France, meanwhile, appears to be weathering the disruption. [BBC | NYT | CNN | Businessweek]

American, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, US Airways and JetBlue won't charge for carry-on luggage. [AP]

GM took church-goers for a Sunday drive yesterday. [Detroit Free Press]

ESPN seeks to dominate the sports circuit by purchasing NCAA basketball. [Business Insider]Continue reading...