Chevy to invest $40 million in clean energy projects.

Coca-Cola presents greatest interactive billboard of all times.

Darvon and Darvocet pulled from U.S. pharma market.

eBay joins Yahoo and Google in wooing Groupon.

The Economist comes to the iPhone & iPad.

Another publisher is out at Entertainment Weekly.

Facebook now accounts for nearly one in four pageviews in the U.S.Continue reading...

Apple, poised for record-breaking sales quarter, ignites guessing game ahead of iTunes-related announcement.

AstraZeneca reportedly looks to unload unit for $2 billion.

BP attracts investment from T. Boone Pickens.

Comcast plans iPad app as top digital executive, Amy Banse, is tapped to head up Comcast/NBC Universal investment fund in Silicon Valley and top lobbyist David Cohen pushes for "self-regulation" of the Internet.

Diesel's racy ad shoot shocks law school library.

Digg's former CEO Jay Adelson lands at SimpleGeo.

EMC buys data storage rival Isilon for $2.4 billion.

Facebook, now the #3 Web company, is integrated into Microsoft Office.

FedEx, PG&E and Nissan seek U.S. government subsidies for electric vehicles.Continue reading...

Virgin America’s recent foray into social media-mapping-marketing scored a home run.

Partnering with Loopt, a location-based mobile check-in app, Virgin offered two-for-one plane tickets from California to Los Cabos or Cancun. The only criteria for eligibility was for a customer to check-in via Loopt at an airport (LAX or SFO) or one of several taco trucks in San Francisco and LA during a four-hour window.

That's right -- a taco truck. In fact, an astounding 1,300 people checked-in just at one taco truck, in San Francisco, while 80% bought Virgin America tickets. The results indicate that checking in, socially, could be a smart precursor to checking in, physically, at an airport.Continue reading...

The last two years were hardly vintage years for wine-makers. Strapped consumers have not stopped drinking wine, but they've sopped up more of the cheap stuff, so it has been tough going for pricey wine brands.

That's why Constellation Brands, the largest producer of wine in the world, is trying some breakthrough techniques to promote such wine brands as Estancia, Ravenswood and Robert Mondavi. Not surprisingly, those techniques include a considerable investment in digital media and interactivity.

One initiative, targeting under-35 consumers, is a first for wine brands.

Constellation is testing a mobile application, available for the iPhone and BlackBerry, that allows consumers to scan bar codes on bottles of wine. In return, they'll receive additional details about the wines, some of which will be delivered as video, such as tips on wine/food pairings.Continue reading...

By chalking up its 100 millionth user, Twitter can no longer be denied as a media platform that's here to stay. Yet many struggle to see the value in communicating in 140 charters or less, including Twitter itself. Coinciding with its 100 millionth user, Twitter this week unveileda number of initiatives to leverage the brand to generate revenue. For Twitter, "making money was now a primary goal."

It's somewhat odd to think that a service with 100 million users has no solid way to turn a profit, handsome or not. (As Stephen Colbert teased Twitter co-founder Biz Stone during an interview, "So, I assume that 'Biz' in 'Biz Stone' does not stand for 'Business Model'.") Then again, that might be exactly why Twitter has cruised to 100 million users.Continue reading...

Advertisers are using brain scans to analyze what consumers want. [CNN Money]

Hertz appeals to emotions with a new campaign of personal stories. [Brandweek]

Virgin American is growing: it will add planes and routes in the coming months. [WSJ]

Viacom is claiming that YouTube deliberately overlooked video copyrights. [NY Times]

This is the kind of brand story that could really have its ups and downs.

On March 24, the CW Network will begin airing "Fly Girls," an eight-week reality television show that follows the lives of five female flight attendants who really work for Virgin America, the upstart US division of Virgin Airlines.

As is typical of reality TV, "Fly Girls" will offer viewers an inside, uncensored view of the women's escapades – and therein lies what could be a huge risk to the Virgin America brand. Already, the Association of Flight Attendants union is expressing disappointment that the show "appears to portray flight attendants as party girls in search of fun and adventure." Indeed, the show does seem to reinforce the less-than-savory stereotype of "stewardesses" in the good old days – not to mention the fact that one-third of Virgin America's flight attendants are male.Continue reading...

Luxury brand Cartier will finally open an online store for American shoppers. [WWD]

PayPal's new app allows for money transfers via smartphone. [TechCrunch]

Designers are trying harder to appeal to consumers rather than create trends. [NY Times]

A Burger King new promotion puts consumers' mugs on sandwich wrappers. [BrandFreak]

Phillips-van Heusen spent $3 billion to acquire the Tommy Hilfiger company. [NY Times]

Sports channel Versus is back on the air thanks to a Comcast-DirecTV deal. [LA Times]Continue reading...