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...

The next Target Style designer capsule collection (hitting stores in time for Valentine's Day in February) is New York-based designer Prabal Gurung, and he couldn't be happier according to Target's promo released today. More information is on the retailer's A Bullseye View blog.

Lance Armstrong is stripped of titles and banned from cycling for life by international body.

Nissan joins hybrid parade.

Virgin's four-star hotels are coming to NYC.

AIG CEO defends company's "free lunch" to New York mag.

American Idol sees ad rates fall.

Ancestry.com agrees to $1.6-billion takeover deal.

Apple creates buzz with plans for smaller iPad as school sales buoy its tablet lead.

BP sells entire Russian stake to Rosneft.

Banana Republic plans to bring back Mad Men collection.Continue reading...

Facebook appears ready to go public with $10 billion IPO in early February, despite ire at leak.

Exxon Mobil sells Japanese subsidiary for $4 billion in move to cut refining.

News Corp. reportedly woos Bloomberg exec as Twitter-happy Murdoch sees weekend arrests at The Sun tabloid.

ABB buys Thomas & Betts for $4 billion.

Angry Birds boss doesn't fear piracy.

Apple aims to sell 40 million iPhones in China next year.

Altria sees tobacco users embrace discount brands.

Bank of America shakes up investment banking division.

Barnes & Noble takes on Amazon with fifth Nook device.

Beyonce sees university class focus on her.Continue reading...

American Express forms venture with French luxury e-tailer, vente-privee.com.

Ashton Kutcher tipped to fill Charlie Sheen void on Two and a Half Men.

Bing continues to capture more searches as Microsoft's antitrust saga comes to an end.

BlackBerry product placement on BBC version of The Apprentice raises eyebrows.

BMW and Audi vie for luxury auto lead.

Bravo TV star Bethenny Frankel sued by former manager for a piece of her just-sold business.

Chevron criticized for corporate citizenship campaign in California.

Facebook claims no smear campaign intended by PR firm Burson-Marsteller vs. Google.Continue reading...

Apparently, “basic” is the new black. The Spring/Summer 2011 Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week, which ended yesterday, demonstrated that designers are still courting recession-wary customers by offering signature pieces that translate beyond a single season.

Among fashion's old guard brands, Ralph Lauren returned to his Western roots, Francisco Costa for Calvin Klein presented sleek, simply-cut dresses, and Oscar de la Renta stuck to his fail-safe Upper East Side cocktail dresses—to a fault, some believed.

But amidst this return to familiar territory, several up-and-coming designers made their presence known in the tents. Over the last few years, Asian-American designers have been gaining in sartorial influence, with Michelle Obama favorite Jason Wu, Parsons grad Alexander Wang and Richard Chai, who together swept the 2010 CFDA Awards. This year, the up-and-comer to watch was Prabal Gurung, a CFDA-nominee who hails from Singapore, by way of Kathmandu. Click through to check out his collection, and more fresh faces on the catwalk this past week.Continue reading...