Apple flirts with first trillion-dollar valuation for a company as iPhone 5 first weekend sales top five million and Apple tops YouTube and Aston Martin as "coolest UK brand." Apple also halted production at Foxconn factory after mass brawl, and seen hogging new iPhone for its own stores. Its legal team has also asked CA judge to boost award from Samsung.

Alfa Romeo plots return to USA, with Chrysler helping Fiat.

American Airlines racks up flight delays and cancellations.

Applebee's reboots its marketing with inflatable dolls.

Boeing struggles with makeover of 777.

Conde Nast launches French Vanity Fair into economic headwinds and skepticism.Continue reading...

Facing more and more competition in the "breastaurant" business, Hooters, the founding and classic big brand in the genre, is looking to overhaul its service, menu and marketing.

The visual focus at Hooters always will be on "Hooters Girls," but CEO Terry Marks — who came aboard late last year — believes the chain can take a big step forward by also upgrading its service, menu and marketing.

"People want any reason to engage or re-engage with the brand," he told Nation's Restaurant News. "It's highly thought of, and our unaided awareness is among the best. But the food had not kept pace over time. We had real opportunities with th food and the Hooter Girls' hospitality."

So, calling his plan "Hooters 2.0," Marks has kicked off a number of changes — including a new ad campaign (watch below) and tagline, "Feed the Dream" — to start "positioning Hooters as a place to celebrate any day or occasion," as NRN put it. And yes, there are owl puppets ... with eyes suggestive of Hooters' hostesses' iconic assets.Continue reading...

LVMH acquires storied French luxury brand Arnys.

Nokia to cut 10,000 jobs, sells Vertu luxury brand.

GM plans to close Opel factory in Germany.

Amazon and Google rush to wrap up new gTLD domain-name suffixes with ICANN.

Applebees sees franchisee's new marketing campaign diverge controversially from corporate brand.

Aung San Suu Kyi warns investors off Myanmar's state oil and gas firm on historic visit to Europe.

Coca-Cola renews sponsorship of BET's 106 & Park.

Facebook launches real-time bidding for "Marketplace" ads.

GE promotes new refrigerator in online-only video.Continue reading...

Avon's little sister, Mark, reaches youth market through old and new: Direct sales and digital media. [NY Times]

Tasti D-Lite rewards Twitter and Foursquare users with card points based on mentions, checkins. [AdWeek]

Honda to offer Acura hybrids. [Bloomberg]

Ford may offer Lincoln brand overseas as a luxury vehicle. [MotorTrend]

Premier Foods, the UK's largest food producer, see 2009 sales reach £2.6 billion. [Times of London]

GM will halt production on Hummer until the sale to Chinese company is finalized. [NY Times]Continue reading...