Another English soccer legend is retiring. David Beckham announced his retirement from pro soccer not long after his former coach, Sir Alex Ferguson, made the same announcement.

After two more games, Beckham will be hanging up his cleats, but the star athlete was sure to rack up a few more titles before he cleans out his locker. Thanks to Paris Saint-Germain' s recent win to claim the Ligue 1 title, Beckham is now the only person to have won four national club championships in four different leagues in four different countries. He's also the first English player to score at three consecutive World Cup finals, and he's been honored by the Queen of England. Not a bad rap for a guy that kicks a ball around for a living, but there's a lot more to Beckham's success than what simply lies on the field. 

"If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over 100 times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy," he said, the BBC reports. "I'm fortunate to have realized those dreams."Continue reading...

Manchester United has had a steady hand running the team for the last 26 years as it built itself into what Forbes has called the world’s most valuable sports brand, worth billions of dollars. Now, Sir Alex Ferguson, who managed the team to 13 league championships and at least double that in other championship cups, is calling it quits at the end of this season and going off to get hip surgery. 

"Manchester United has been transformed as a football club under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson," Dan Jones, partner in the Sports Business Group at Deloitte, told CNN.

The club’s popularity has allowed it to rake in sponsorship dollars, as it recently signed deals with two financial service providers in Denmark and Vietnam, a social gaming company in Japan, Aon to sponsor its practice gear, and a slew of others.Continue reading...

Above, Beijing t-shirt maker Plastered releases its 草泥马老板 ("Grass Mud Horse" Boss) shirt. 

China is the second largest economy in the world and every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse)—but who's got the time?! Here's the week's reads that will make you look like a keen China observer in case you find yourself immersed in a cultural conversation.

This week: Beckham's Adidias/Nike problem... McDonald's closes iconic location... bashing Apple... Steve Jobs manga... what your brand of car says about your sex life... Walmart... Nongfu... more infant formula scandals... Jackie Chan... Vera Wang... bye bye black Audis... and much more.Continue reading...

Beckham's China debacle was so bad that even Xinhua wondered if it all wasn't just "some sort of publicity stunt." It's not a good sign when China can't even get its own state-run news service on board with a publicity stunt put on by China to help its ailing soccer industry.

On the bright side for China, the west may remember this trip as the one during which Beckham flopped onto his bum while placing a kick.* But in China, they'll remember this trip as the one in which Beckham lifted his shirt to show off his Chinese tattoo just before the whole nation photoshopped it.

As the World Ambassador for Chinese Football, Beckham is tasked with making everyone in China forget that A) their national team is a longstanding disgrace with a single World Cup appearance ever (2002); and B) China's national soccer scene is so corrupt that numerous players and even the nation's soccer association head were sent to prison last year bringing the total count of the convicted to somewhere north of 50.Continue reading...

New Grownup Burger Recalls Grownup Film Moment

The words burger, Heidi Klum and bourbon aren’t generally found in the same sentence, but that’s changed now that Carl’s Jr. will become the first fast-food chain to release a burger branded by a liquor. The Jim Beam Bourbon burger will start being sold Monday night and to celebrate the moment, the chain has turned out a sexy ad featuring supermodel/businesswoman Heidi Klum reprising one of American film’s sexiest characters, The Graduate’s Mrs. Robinson.

In it, Klum seduces the camera and her naïve young male costar while chowing down on a massive Jim Beam burger. (Don’t worry, teetotalers. Unlike the famed Mrs. Robinson, the burger is alcohol-free.)Continue reading...

Soccer fans in China were recently dealt a nasty blow when news came out of just how rigged the system has been there. Close to 60 Chinese soccer officials, including two former heads of the Chinese Football Association and the nation’s most-respected referee were recently banned from the sport for anywhere from five years to life for fixing games.

In addition to the corruption scandal, Chinese football has also just lost two of its biggest stars—the Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba and France’s Nicolas Anelka—long before soccer fans in the country expected them to leave.

What’s the most-populated nation in the world to do? Hire the world’s most well-known soccer player under the age of 40 to help shift its image, of course. The 37-year-old David Beckham, who is now on the roster of Paris Saint-Germain Football Club in France’s Ligue 1, has signed on to be the brand ambassador for Chinese football, the BBC reports.Continue reading...

In addition to new campaigns for Ford's "Hello Again" music project for the Lincoln brand and Kraft's "We are the World"-like music video for its Miracle Whip dressing during the Grammy Awards telecast on CBS, a host of other brands used the post-Super Bowl platform to make some noise.

Anheuser Busch InBev's Bud Light Platinum debuted its new new campaign by its new "creative director," Justin Timberlake, while Target also used the Grammys to kick off its tie-in with the singer's new album and promote its tie-ins with singer Pink and fashion designer Prabal Gurung:Continue reading...

ABC sells out ads for Oscars.

AOL is constantly innovating but toward what end remains unclear.

American Airlines and U.S. Airways move closer to merger as U.S. Airways rises to top of customer-loyalty survey. 

Banana Republic hooks up with Match.com for Valentine's mixers.

Boeing prepares redesign of troubled Dreamliner batteries.

Campbell Soup enlists celebrity chef in heart-health campaign.

Chipotle plans mid-year price increase.Continue reading...