In the News: U.S. Automakers Rebound + more

Ford and GM brands came out on top for the American Customer Satisfaction Index study for the first time. Ford's Lincoln-Mercury and GM's Buick took the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, the first time U.S. auto makers have held the two top spots in the survey. BMW, Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz tied for third.

KFC franchise owners are suing Yum! Brands for control of the fast food chain's advertising. Their beef (er, fowl)? They feel KFC's decision to emphasize grilled instead of fried chicken has hurt the brand and lowered U.S. sales. They've also hired former McDonald's CMO Larry Light to spearhead their campaign.

Toyota is studying the design and placement of its accelerator and brake pedals to see whether the current setup makes drivers more prone to hit the wrong one.

Barnes & Noble removes its brand from Nook e-reader suite, while commercial landlords start to worry about B&N being up for sale.

Barclays agreed to pay $298 million to settle charges by U.S. and New York prosecutors that the U.K. bank altered financial records for more than a decade to hide hundreds of millions of dollars in payments flowing into the U.S. from Cuba, Libya, Iran and other sanctioned countries.

BlackBerry's new Torch has not been a runaway hit, as UAE reports progress on BlackBerry security talks.

BP's oil spill may be fading from headlines, but much oil remains in the Gulf according to scientists.

Charlie Brown TV specials will continue thanks to a new five-year deal with ABC TV in the U.S.

Dell's Streak tablet is now on sale at AT&T stores.

Disney, Warner Brothers and other proprietors of kid-friendly websites are being sued for tracking software that follows visitors even after they've surfed to another site.

Foster's plans to remake classic British TV comedies for online; the one-off productions hope to regroup each show's original talent and producers.

Google's search share has dropped according to new figures from comScore, while observers question if net neutrality stance puts its brand equity "in danger."

Guinness is preparing a sports-themed ad campaign to drive sales during live matches.

HP made its first major deal in the wake of Mark Hurd's ouster: acquiring software security firm Fortify.

Hyundai is looking to extend its "fuel efficiency leadership."

The Michelin Man saves animals from becoming roadkill in new U.K. campaign.

Microsoft is rethinking the keyboard, inspired by student innovation contest.

Nielsen is looking to raise $2 billion in its IPO.

Snickers gears up for the Super Bowl early with new prize promotion.

Starbucks Reserve, a premium single-origin coffee line, will debut in select U.S. markets this fall. And a Starbucks store in New York reportedly ejected a professor from England who refused to order using Starbucks lingo.

Starwood and other hotel brands are hoping to go green and save money at the same time.

U.S. Democrats are turning to the Kennedy brand name, asking Teddy's widow to contest his Senate seat (which went to a Republican).

Wal-Mart reported a slightly better than expected quarterly earnings report today, as did Home Depot in its earnings report.

Walt Disney World, facing a still-soft economy, has extended a sizable hotel discount into next year but hopes for "normalized" pricing in 2011.

Wendy's is No. 1 among America's fast-food giants (5,000+ stores) for the second year in a row in Zagat's annual survey. Ranking behind Wendy's in the survey of 6,518 consumers, in order: Subway, McDonald's, Burger King and Taco Bell. Starbucks won for best coffee while Five Guys won for best fast-food burger.

WWE and Burger King are teaming for an in-restaurant promotion starting Monday.