Most of America’s top-rated restaurants are run by male chefs, yet cooking is still conventionally considered to be something that women are more interested in than men. So where do these guys come from, anyway? Where did they keep themselves out of sight all their lives before getting their Michelin stars?

Well, one young fella who likely hopes to be on that list someday isn’t hiding himself away anymore. Four-year-old Gavyn Boscio of New Jersey has been thrown into the limelight this holiday season thanks to a hue and cry raised by his sister, 13-year-old McKenna Pope.

Gavyn would like to have an Easy-Bake Oven for Christmas but he told his family that knows that “only girls” cook. So Pope is lobbying Easy-Bake’s manufacturer, Hasbro, to not market the product exclusively to girls.

The least they could do, she says on her Change.org petition that has been signed by more than 40,000 people, is to put a boy or two on the packaging and offer it in a color other than pink or purple.Continue reading...

Cheeky start-up Dollar Shave Club has the $13 billion shaving industry on edge as its commercial featuring founder, CEO and improv actor Michael Dubin has gone viral— it's at 4.2 million views and counting—thanks in part to the brand’s cheeky motto, “Our Blades Are F***ing Great.”

The Santa Monica, CA-based e-commerce start-up, just a few weeks old, had 12,000 people sign-up in the first 48 hours for its razors and blades sold in an arrestingly simple way: select one of three razors, pay one low monthly fee, and have them delivered to your door. Continue reading...

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...

Skadoosh! That's the catchphrase of Po, the panda played by Jack Black in the upcoming sequel of Kung Fu Panda. To promote the new film, Dreamworks Animation and The Visionaire Group have set up a fun interactive YouTube channel.

The video above features Jack Black, in person, practicing his line "Skadoosh" for the new movie. He has an idea, walks off screen, followed by a "Click for epicness" link that stays up. Go ahead, click it...Continue reading...

Remember the Tippexperience, the interactive YouTube channel for the Bic-owned Tipp-Ex white-out featuring a somewhat profane bear?

Bic is back with another YouTube viral campaign, the BicFlexperience, for its BIC Flex 3 razor. Play the related "human curling" game — to demonstrate the "surprisingly smooth glide," of course — by clicking here. You can pick the webcam mode (instead of playing via keyboard) for Kinect-like motion gameplay, or just use some old-fashioned keyboard moves to play. Either way, let us know what you think.

Well, that was fast. Yesterday, NASA announced a new toxic (arsenic-based) lifeform; Purell's response, above. More fun with Brand Bites, after the jump.Continue reading...

Remember the (just sold) Burger King's smash viral subservient chicken campaign? Meet its successor: the Tipp-Ex bear, a Bic-engineered viral marketing campaign that exemplifies a simple brand promise: the power of whiting out (and changing the future).

Just follow the instructions and type in an action to direct the action. The language is NSFW, so be warned! Some hints after the hump.

Try typing in "loves," "eats," "washes," "feeds," and "tickles" — and, most on-brand, "erases."

So is this closest to BK's chicken, Old Spice Man's social media responses, or the Pringle's Can Hand interactive banner? And does the longer you keep clicking on the interactive increase brand engagement? We'd be interested to hear any thoughts or stats!

Starbucks kicks off two campaigns, for Via instant coffee and retooled Frappucino line (above).

Lexus SUV "don't buy" rating by Consumer Reports has been lifted.

BP hopes to have oil spill contained by Monday, seeks shared responsibility.

J&J investigation into children's medicine begins in US; reviews global branding for baby products.Continue reading...