Comedy Central partners with Urban Outfitters on Indecision 2012 collection.

7-11, Walmart, Target and other big retailers team up on mobile wallet to combat Google Wallet.

Apple reportedly in talks with U.S. cable operators to develop a set-top box; and takes a swing at Amazon.

Johnson & Johnson launches ingredient transparency website for baby and beauty products as J&J removes formaldehyde from products.

Bumbo foam child seats recalled following injuries.

Calvin Klein sued by Lululemon for alleged patent infringement.

Chick-fil-A uproar may have inspired gunman.Continue reading...

Hark! It's Monty Python's new iPad app.

Below, watch the Huggies commercial that has dads up in arms, and more.Continue reading...

Google taps David Beckham to promote Google+ as company grapples with social search fallout, and apologizes for Kenyan flub.

Apple's iPad 3 expected to go on sale in March with HD screen and faster chip. Apple also joined the Fair Labor Association, opening suppliers' doors to labor rights watchdog in transparency response to Foxconn fears — the first tech brand to do so.

Bentley courts Maybach fans including Jay-Z — who has just signed on as the face of (and an investor in) Duracell.

British films to be pitched as a global brand.

BT will offer free Wi-Fi at London Olympic Games.

Disney Studios quickly fills CMO position.

Dr Pepper brand name is removed from Texas town.

Easyjet fined for barring disabled passengers.

Excedrin recall expands to Canada.

Olivia Munn strips off for PETA.Continue reading...

Right in the middle of an epic battle with BMW to sell the most luxury cars in the U.S. market for 2011, Daimler AG gave another signal that its corporate heart lies with its venerable Mercedes-Benz brand to the exclusion of others. The company plans to terminate its struggling Maybach luxury limousine brand after years of disappointing sales.

Daimler resurrected the old Maybach brand about a decade ago after losing out on obtaining current brands in a major restructuring of the high end of the European luxury-car business several years ago, when Volkswagen picked up Bentley to compete with BMW's Rolls-Royce. But Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said last week that "the sales chances for the Mercedes brand were better than Maybach's," in an interview with Frankurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

By deep-sixing Maybach — which sells for more than $350,000 and was famously torched, mutilated and modified by Jay-Z and Kanye West in their recent music video, Otis — Daimler will attempt to capture its share of the six-figure-price market with an expanded range of really nice models sold under the Mercedes-Benz name.Continue reading...

Adbusters' role in branding Occupy movement examined in New York Times as Occupy LA protesters dig in heels.

Amazon eyes China growth.

Apple critiqued for not getting social media (but does it matter to brand loyalists?) as digi-savvy toddlers' parents fuel iPad sales.

Black Friday sales boost LG and Samsung as e-tailers are poised for Cyber Monday lift.

BSkyB's James Murdoch loses investors' confidence.

China's Chery automaker launches Qoros brand as Subaru joint venture gains lifeline.

Coach, expanding in China, will list shares on  Hong Kong's Hang Seng stock exchange.

Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Nestle and Mars sign European pledge to only promote nutritious products on their websites.

Disney releases mobile app for Spider-Man, as the Marvel-owned web-slinger finds his feet on Broadway.Continue reading...

In order to maintain its sense of exclusivity and specialness, Ferrari makes less than 7,000 cars a year. But that limits the company’s income and consumers still want to be sure their car is different from all others.

After all, when folks are shelling out $410,000 for a car, they want something special. That's why the Italian car manufacturer started a “'tailor made' personalization program” (called Ferrari Atelier) that could “add 20 percent to 60 percent to the price of a car,” Bloomberg notes.

“Being different is important for Ferrari buyers as these cars are all about status,” commented Rebecca Lindland, a IHS analyst in Norwalk, Connecticut, to Bloomberg. “It’s like showing up to a gala in the same dress — funny at first, annoying if it keeps happening.”Continue reading...

Want to promote yourself as being hip and cool and all that? First, buy a $300,000 Maybach. Then get a blowtorch and heavy-duty metal cutter, film yourself destroying the body of the car and driving it around like a maniac with four models in the back seat while rapping like mad.

That’s what Jay-Z and Kanye West are up to in their latest video, “Otis,” from the new album “Watch the Throne,” which was released digitally a week ago and hit store shelves Aug. 12.Continue reading...