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...

Now that Disney has agreed to spend big bucks to own Lucasfilm and all of its Star Wars goodies, the corporation is losing little time working the big brand into its plans.

DisneyParks released an amusing video on Halloween showing Darth Vader and a couple of his stormtroopers hanging out at Disneyland: riding a Dumbo ride, buying some popcorn, enjoying the fireworks. It has since racked up more than 3.2 million views on YouTube.

It is passion like that that Disney is hoping will make for excellent return on investment for its big purchase. Even without the Star Wars brand in its back pocket, Disney just reported a pretty good fiscal year, going up 3% to $42 billion in revenue while its profits went up 18% to almost $5.7 billion, Variety reports.

"We're entering a phase-out of investment mode and transitioning into more compelling growth mode," Disney chairman-CEO Bob Iger told analysts. "We're seeing a ramping down of capital spending." He went on to say that the addition of Lucasfilm “will further fuel Disney's creative engine across our company to create additional value for our shareholders.” And attention holiday shoppes: Iger noted that Star Wars merchandise would be found soon in Disney stores and online. Continue reading...

Pfizer drops on weaker sales of specialty care drugs and emerging market slump, plans to buy back up to $10B in shares.

UK lawmakers prepare to grill Starbucks, Amazon and Google on taxes.

Con Edison makes progress in restoring NYC neighborhoods' power, while MTA offers free fares in bid to get New York moving again.

Apple's Cook fields his A-team before a wary Wall Street.

Avon sees sales drop in China and the U.K.

Barclay's hit with record U.S. fine.

Burger King tests delivery service in Florida.Continue reading...

The Walt Disney Company's announcement that it's buying Lucasfilm — the production company owned by producer/director George Lucas — for $4.05 billion means every last bit of the Star Wars franchise is now part of the Mickey Mouse Empire. The deal shouldn't come as a huge surprise, given the success of Star Wars-themed weekends luring amateur Jedi warriors and Darth Vaders to Disney parks.

Even though series creator Lucas says that there is such “a large group of ideas and characters and books and all kinds of things” that new Star Wars movies could be coming out for the next 100 years, fans of the franchise are a little confused that their cinnamon-roll-haired Princess Leia is now on the same squad with such gals as Pocahontas, Snow White, Ariel, and Cinderella.

Fans won’t have to wait 100 years for the next film, however. The first one under new ownership, Star Wars VII, will hit screens in 2015. Some, though, are not happy about the news.Continue reading...

Disney acquires Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion, plans to restart Star Wars franchise.

Apple sees executive refuse to apologize for mapping flaw, so he and retail chief are to depart as design head Jony Ive takes on bigger role and Apple shares slip post-shakeup.BP returns to profitability and raises dividend.

BP returns to profitability and raises dividend.

Activision goes big for CoD: Black Ops 2.

Aldi revamps as German consumers reject austerity.

Bayer acquires Schiff for $1.2 billion.

Burger King boosts marketing and makes demographic inroads.

Ford profits reflect North American gains and European woes.Continue reading...

“Star Wars” Day was last week. (“May the fourth be with you” and all that). But diehard fans of the films are obviously ready to celebrate it at anytime and anywhere. So there was a jolt of excitement when word came out that the owner of the franchise, LucasFilm, had filed for a new trademark, “Star Wars 1313,” according to NeoSeeker.com.

The filing suggests that LucasFilm will be using the new trademark for a new Star Wars game, though others had originally thought it might be a television show.

The trademark would be used for “interactive entertainment software and accompanying instruction manuals sold as a unit, namely, computer game software and manuals sold as a unit, video game software and manuals sold as a unit; video game software, computer game software, and pre-recorded compact discs and DVDs featuring games, films, animation, music, computer game software, and video game software; downloadable video game software and downloadable computer game software; computer game software for use on mobile and cellular phones.”Continue reading...

Looking for a burger to go with your Darth Maul Brisk soda? Get thee to Europe, where the Quick burger chain, which made headlines with a halal burger last year, is releasing a trio of burgers to tie into the upcoming 3D release of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in theaters.

As noted on the French Star Wars fan forum Mintinbox.net and picked up on Buzzfeed and A Hamburger Today, the limited edition burgers coming to France, Belgium and Luxembourg include a Sith-tastic reddish Dark Burger, a Yodalicious green Jedi Burger, and a disturbingly black-bunned Dark Vador (Darth Vader) Burger. At least the fine print on Quick's ads remind diners to remember their fruits and veggies.

Brisk officially launched its Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 3D cross-marketing today: a mobile app (dubbed Brisksaber and actively teased on its Facebook page) and a limited-edition drink featuring Star Wars villain Darth Maul, as promoted with a new commercial, above. The Brisksaber app, which can be downloaded at uncaptheapp.com, invites fans to "Turn your finger into a lightsaber!" Click below to check out the limited-edition packaging promoting the movie's theatrical release next month.Continue reading...