Coca-Cola today launches its Open Happiness campaign in the UK, releasing the much-anticipated sequel to its Internet sensation — the Coca-Cola Happiness Machine. The viral video, which was created in-house and won CLIO's 2010 Gold Interactive Award, attracted one million views in the first week of its US launch in January. Happiness was also a theme of the brand's FIFA World Cup sponsorship this year.

BP is expected to announce today that embattled CEO Tony Hayward will be replaced by American Robert Dudley. Hayward will leave with a hefty financial package.

Apple's white iPhone 4 delay buys time to fix antenna issue.

Barclay's and other European banks respond to stress test results.

BlackBerry security questioned by UAE authorities.

Disney, Ford, Goldman Sachs & more after the jump.Continue reading...

U2 may be on the comeback trail following Bono's recent back surgery, but that hasn't affected the band's place of honor on Forbes' top-earning musicians of 2010 list.

The boys from Ireland are still top of the pops as the highest-earning group in the world, having raked in more than $311 million for their current world tour. U2's celebrity clout has, most famously, been used to promote Apple's iPod and its smartphone rival, the BlackBerry. It also chimed in with a tune for the 2010 World Cup, above.

Other musicians also kept their brands afloat by touring their hearts out in a still-tough year for the global economy.Continue reading...

We recently noted how Coca-Cola used sonic branding during the World Cup, and how brand marketers are playing with original music to engage younger consumers this summer. Case in point: Converse's original All Summer tune above, a collaboration between Kid Cudi, Bethany of Best Coast and Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend. More brand-inspired music after the jump.Continue reading...

Who is the first and the last person most advertising experts will run a campaign by? Proofreader? No. Creative Director? Nope. Legal counsel? Bingo. Well, it appears somebody representing Toshiba in Spain forgot to do that. Or maybe they did. Either way, Toshiba is screwed in Spain.Continue reading...

The world's media and soccer fans may have left Johannesburg, but Nike wants to remind people about an even bigger goal: the continuing need for AIDS education and medication in Africa. Its new spot promoting its partnership with (RED) aims to stir up soccer fans by featuring stars such as Didier Drogba.

The campaign extension comes with a Twitter-based interactive element: tagged tweets will be added to the "Join the Movement" map of Africa (scroll down here) that's made up of red shoelaces — which Nike is selling under Nike(RED) and donating the proceeds to the Global Fund.

Nike's Twitter tags echo its "Write the Future" World Cup campaign: "Lace Up, Save Lives" for its red shoelace campaign uses the Twitter hashtag of #laceupsavelives — and You've seen the future. Now write it. Join the fight. uses #EndAIDS 

After the jump, see the impact of Nike(RED) shoelace sales at the grassroots level.Continue reading...

Today in Facebook news:

• David Fincher's already-controversial Facebook movie, The Social Network, will kick off the New York Film Festival on Sept. 24, ahead of its official opening on Oct. 1.

• Facebook appeared to be testing a stripped down interface as it ramps up "social graph" advertising pitch touting Nike's World Cup FB marketing among other examples.

• A new "panic button" safety app will let users flag abusive and potentially predatory behavior to the U.K.'s Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

• The site is facing another lawsuit, this time in Germany. After the jump: details on Facebookers' surpising habits from a new study.Continue reading...