Ben Cohen may be a member of the elite 1% in America, but he’s a hippie at heart and always has been up for helping out the other 99%. Although the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand he co-founded with buddy Jerry Greenfield is now owned by Unilever, the brand still reflects their left-leaning vision by maintaining a commitment to activism, funded by a foundation to support “social justice, environmental protection, (and) sustainable food systems.” Plus, what makes the world happier than free ice cream? Ben & Jerry’s has been hosting a free cone day every year since it started in 1979.

Well, there’s one group of folks who aren’t too happy with Cohen today: Occupy Wall Street.Continue reading...

Occupy Wall Street protesters gathered in New York's financial district to mark the first anniversary of the movement, their presence contained by metal barriers and riot-clad police forming human walls. The current activities, dubbed a “roving carnival of resistance” include “nonviolent civil disobedience” as well as events planned in at least 15 other cities including Asheville, North Carolina, San Francisco and Hilo, Hawaii. 

Chants of "All day, all week, Occupy Wall Street" and "We got sold out, banks got bailed out," greeted Wall Street workers arriving at their offices, echoes of the original goal of the protest to generate "a swirl of mobile occupations of corporate lobbies and intersections," as stated on the Occupy website for the Sept. 15-17 anniversary events, promoted on Twitter with the hashtags #S15, #S16 and #S17.Continue reading...

With 32 days before the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games kick off in London....

Official sponsor McDonald's UK offers sneak peek at designer Wayne Hemingway's sustainable, Mad Men-inspired uniforms that will debut at its biggest restaurant (if for only six weeks), which is now under construction at the London Olympics Park:Continue reading...

Angry Birds Space sets mobile download record.

Apple and Microsoft face price-gouging inquiry in Australia.

Barack Obama tests "Forward" as a campaign slogan.

BP will pay $4 billion on new oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico this year.

BlackBerry will be in the hot seat at BlackBerry World conference by RIM on Tuesday.

Broadway tests autism-friendly theater performances.

Brooklyn Nets unveils new team logo designed by Jay-Z.

Chrysler boosts Jeep production.

Facebook will announce a "life-saving tool" on Good Morning America on Tuesday.Continue reading...

Old Spice Man is back — this time, it's Terry Crews — in a trio of commercials directed by comic writers Tim Heideker and Eric Wareheim from Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! 

Crews video-bombs other P&G brand spots: for Charmin, Bounce and, for fun, a vending machine full of snacks.Continue reading...

Altria launches tobacco rights website.

Apple sees its devices dominate mobile ordering as brand plans books announcement and sets Red Friday sales event for Asia.

Avery Dennison sells office and consumer products business to 3M.

Axe woos young males with interactive comic book.

Bentley plans luxury SUV.

BMW sees 2012 premium growth.

BP sues Halliburton over Gulf spill, includes anti-BP protesters in new ad.

Bridgestone kicks off Super Bowl campaign at NHL Winter Classic.

Brisk ties into Star Wars 3D theatrical launch with mobile campaign.

Cadbury adopts vertical shelf-ready packaging.Continue reading...

American Airlines parent AMR bankruptcy could foist huge losses on key creditors.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs honored with exhibition highlighting his patents and trademarks.

AT&T blasts federal critique of T-Mobile deal, as AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile deal with Carrier IQ privacy concerns.

Barnes & Noble continues to struggle financially with digital transition.

Chili's drives menu changes and sales with retrofit.

Disney raises dividend to highest level in 20 years.

Fiat closes plant as European demand falls.

GM offers to buy back Volt from owners.Continue reading...

When Jay-Z's Rocawear brand yanked its "Occupy Wall Street" shirts over criticism about profiting off a social movement (with no plans to donate anything back to Occupy Wall Street), the lesson was clear: Those capitalizing on OWS must tread lightly or risk major PR blowback.

With this in mind, the future of one trademark application (filed Nov. 19th) is very intriguing. The mark, "Wine for the 99%," was requested by massive wine conglomerate The Wine Group LLC.Continue reading...