"Brotherhood," Budweiser's 2013 Super Bowl ad, was among those which stood out among rather routine fare.

Super Bowl ads (the complete list) this year provided few gems, according to an emerging consensus of industry professionals.

Many were deemed lame or even confusing, and generally considered ineffective and off-brand. Several brands seemed to suffer rather than benefit from the frenzy of sneak peeks and full-commercial reveals in this year's rush for pre-Game exposure and social buzz.

GM expected to announce Manchester United sponsorship today.

Nike is selling its Cole Haan and Umbro brands.

RIM shareholders see outright sale as best option for BlackBerry maker.

Amazon may end up sharing California tax as NJ tax collection kicks in.

American Idol owner rebrands.

CBS says Super Bowl advertising is more than half sold.

Caterpillar sees strikers hunkering down.

Chevron is sued in Canada by Amazonians.Continue reading...

Twitter fixed a security bug that disabled its website version today, and plans to step up promoted tweets (as only one-fifth of its 160 million registered users follow brands or companies).

Adobe misses earnings forecast on sluggish sales.

AIG nears sale of two units to Prudential.

BlackBerry-maker RIM could unveil its tablet (nickname: the BlackPad) as early as next week.

Clorox unloads its STP and Armor-All brands.

DC Entertainment's non-publishing business is moving to Los Angeles as part of Time Warner shake-up.

Disney former executive assistant pleads guilty to insider trading charges.

GlaxoSmithKline sues Roche, Genentech over cancer drug patent.Continue reading...

BP's shares tumble as it begins latest attempt to stop Gulf leak and new charges emerge.

AIG and Prudential failed to reach a deal for AIA insurance business in Asia.

J&J's McNeil unit pulled TV ads month before stopping Tylenol production due to earlier recall.

Kimberly-Clark humanizes Scott paper products brand with spokesman called Scott.

Unilever's plans for Sara Lee face EU inquiry.Continue reading...

Tablets, tablets everywhere: BlackBerry is rumored to be developing one, Sony is eyeing one and Dell is prepping a small one.

Heinz ketchup lowers sodium in response to America's war on salt ... while language in advertising is getting saltier.

British clothiers go global: Asos is expanding to US, Superdry expands thanks to David Beckham.

P&G is "in a bind" over online campaigning by moms over Pampers DryMax claims.

BP CEO Tony Hayward says company was ill prepared for Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.

South Korea’s Posco is set to buy Daewoo for $3 billion.Continue reading...