1 in 88 children born today will have autism, according to the CDC's latest prevalence report. April is awareness month for the fastest growing developmental disorder in the U.S., and brands are doing their part to shine a (blue) light on those affected and contribute to research. 

JetBlue’s “Wings for Autism” program works with local autism awareness groups to aid families with special needs children while traveling. The program, which was initiated at Boston's Logan International Airport, allows families to familiarize their children with the flying process ahead of time, including the sights and sounds, which austistic children are particularly sensitive to. On May 6, the program will be featured at Long Beach and Burbank airports, with plans to host a similar event at New York's JFK International Airport later this year.Continue reading...

JCPenney slashes CEO Ron Johnson's pay, woos fashionistas with store-in-store bijoux bars.

Facebook dispute over Timeline trademark will go to jury trial; faces questions about new smartphone.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk will personally guarantee car buyback values as company introduces leasing.

A&W introduces Mini Polar Swirls via Vine.

Angelina Jolie opens school in Afghanistan funded by her jewelry collection.

Apple begins production of refreshed iPhone this quarter.Continue reading...

An estimated one-third of American children are overweight or obese. In support of National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, the Saucony brand is joining the race against this epidemic with the launch of Saucony Run4Good — the running industry’s first iPhone app raising money and awareness around this crisis.

With every mile, runners earn money for community youth running programs fast-tracking kids back to health. “As a brand focused on runners, innovation and social responsibility, we believe the Saucony Run4Good app offers a new world of possibilities to engage with our community in a relevant, innovative and meaningful way while inspiring a strong unity of purpose to make a difference for our kids,” said Chris Lindner, Saucony's CMO and SVP for commerce.

The statistics on U.S. childhood obesity are alarming: almost 20% of children ages 6 to 11 and 18% of those 12 to 19 are considered obese. The CDC estimates that over the past three decades, childhood obesity has more than doubled for preschool children aged 2-5 years and adolescents 12-19 years, and more than tripled for children 6-11 years.Continue reading...

AOL sells patents to Microsoft.

AT&T spends big to support launch of Numia smartphone by Nokia as it staves off a walkout by its workers.

Augusta National leaves unsettled the question of membership of IBM CEO Virginia Rometty; Bubba Watson wins its Masters tournament in dramatic fashion.

Avon names new CEO from Johnson & Johnson.

CDC says anti-smoking ads prompt lots more "quit attempts."

Cotton launches new look.

Google plots web-domain buying spree.

Great Wolf Resorts sees sweetened offer to buy company.

Kia keeps brand humming in non-launch year. Continue reading...

Airbus sees more jet orders held up in emissions row with China.

American Airlines races against clock in bankruptcy court.

Apple faces pressure over app store fraud as fans line up around the world for new iPad.

BCE buys Astral Media for $3 billion, shakes up Canadian media landscape.

Centers for Disease Control launches grisly new anti-smoking ad campaign.

China corporate espionage makes cover of Bloomberg Businessweek.

Cisco increases focus on video delivery with purchase of NDS.

Derek Lam resigns as creative director of Tod's.

Disney pulls in movie production reins after John Carter flops.Continue reading...

There are a lot of product "placements" in Contagion, logos and names that appear in passing, backgrounds and without a great degree of consequence. A crack about Taco Bell here, a Mazda, Audi, or Chevy logo there. But there are really only two or three "brands" that find themselves the focus of the film, and one of them has genuine reason to be sick about the slanderous way Contagion portrays it.

"The Minnesota Department of Health was not officially involved with the film in any way," John Stieger, the department's communications director, told brandchannel. If you've seen the new #1 movie at the US box office, that shouldn't come as a surprise.Continue reading...

On the day that the Obama administration had to ruefully acknowledge that the unemployment rate is rising again – to 9.2% in June – the US Association of National Advertisers tried a clever tactic that attempted to leverage renewed fears about joblessness to advance what probably ranks as the ANA’s No. 1 public-policy concern these days.

The ANA produced a study purporting to show that a cross-agency federal proposal to curtail marketing of certain products to kids could translate to the loss of at least 74,000 American jobs in the retailing, marketing and manufacturing of foods and beverages that the government believes contribute to childhood obesity.Continue reading...

A few weeks ago, the Web was abuzz with news of the Center for Disease Control's "zombie apocalypse preparedness" marketing stunt to promote hurricane preparation in an amusing fashion. The stunt went so viral that it crashed the servers, revealing just how unprepared the CDC itself was.

Now, a fast-on-the-uptake author is using the CDC's zombie viral marketing to do a bit of zombie guerrilla marketing of his own.Continue reading...