Some countries have hidden cigarette brand names from consumers with plain packaging. Some countries demand retailers hide the cigarettes away. Some countries have put nasty images on the packaging so consumers can see what could happen to them someday if they continue to smoke, and some are just starting over. But one country is just planning to get rid of the darn things altogether.

It’ll take a few years, of course, for Scotland to get all tobacco products out of its country, but the plan is to have them gone by 2034, according to the UK's thecourier.co, so smokers might want to get their trips to Scotland over with sooner rather than later. The country has already banned smoking from public places and raised the age of purchase from 16 to 18; it now plans to ban smoking from the grounds of all hospitals and force retailers to sell smokes in plain packaging.Continue reading...

A typical Budweiser has 5.3 percent alcohol. Sam Adams Boston Lager: 4.8 percent. Coors Light: 4.2. Armageddon: 65. No wonder the measuring-tape holders at the Guinness Book of World Records are reportedly checking to see if the new brew out of Scotland sets a new high for alcohol content in a beer. 

If so, it will have beaten out a brewery in Holland that produced Start The Future, which featured 60 percent alcohol, since July of 2010. According to the UK's Daily Mail, the battle for the top percentage has been raging for the last three years, started by Scotland’s BrewDog with the fabulously named Tactical Nuclear Penguin brew, which boasted 32 percent alcohol content.

That was followed by Germany’s Schorschbock with 40 percent alcohol and then BrewDog’s Sink the Bismarck, which only upped the ante by one percentage point. A German brewer answered the call with a  44 percent beer but then was trumped again by BrewDog with the 55 percent End of History brew. That one was the most difficult one to get since only 12 bottles produced. However, it was the most uniquely packaged. The Daily Mail reports that each was sold inside a stuffed squirrel.

Now they're all quaking in their boots at Armageddon, which just launched at the Inverness Beer Festival.Continue reading...

China is the second latest economy in the world, every significant brand's future is impacted by its growth (or collapse!); but who's got the time?! A weekly potpourri of ten reads that will make you look like a keen China observer during any conversation about China.

Apple, Björn Borg, Scotland and Australia, Ford, Hermes, brand colors, Bentleys, deleted photos of China's leader riding a Taiwanese bicycle and more... Continue reading...

The latest move in Greenpeace’s Save the Arctic campaign saw British eco-activists shutting down 74 of 119 Shell petrol stations in Edinburgh and London against the brand's plans to drill for oil in the Arctic, leading to the arrests of 24 campaigners on Monday, according to the Guardian.

The campaign is targeting Shell as prepares to begin drilling in the Arctic with Russian oil company Gazprom, a plan that U.S. activists rallied to sue and spoof campaigns to pop up. Protesters scaled the roofs of Shell stations and deployed emergency shut-off switches to stop petrol going to the pumps, removing a fuse that delays it being switched on again, while posting a message on Twitter that, "We're being careful not to destroy property. Even the carefully removed components will go back to Shell."

Greenpeace UK website elaborated, "It's part of the global week of action against Shell that kicked off with the occupation of the head office in the Hague – as well as our live TV channel, follow #tellshell on Twitter for all the latest from around the world."Continue reading...

Film: Brave
Brands Spotted: 0 (if you don't count Scotland)
Standout Placement: N/A
Most Memorable Placement (positive): N/A
Most Memorable Placement (negative): N/A
Overall Product Placement Integration Grade (1-10): N/A
Comments: Some critics have called Brave, Disney/Pixar's new film, formulaic. It's an easy conclusion to reach. The idea behind Brave appears to be taking the popularity of young women archers (cue The Hunger Games, and already a Brave-themed attraction at Disney Parks), pinching some themes from other recent popular franchises (How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek), updating the Disney Princess juggernaut, and wrapping the whole thing in the aura of an earlier epic Scottish tale of bravery (Braveheart*). But Brave's guts aren't the only formulaic element of the film.Continue reading...

Apple's blockbuster quarter puts iPhone ahead of Google smartphones in the U.S.

Brinker International expands value strategy at Chili's.

Christian Louboutin makes the IP case for its red-soled shoes.

Davos kicks off with worries about eurozone crisis.

Del Frisco's Restaurant plans IPO.

Fiat launches ad for new Panda into Italian austerity zeitgeist.Continue reading...

Airbus may develop longer-range plane to rival Boeing.

Apple tucks Newsstand into WWDC announcements.

AT&T's bid for T-Mobile is supported by Microsoft and Facebook.

Barack Obama's chief economist, Austan Goolsbee, resigns.

Bayer prostate-cancer drug shows promise.

BHP Billiton starts first US Gulf well since BP disaster.

BP tries to salvage Rosneft deal.Continue reading...

Dodge puts new spin on the "pro driver, closed course" blink-and-you'll-miss-it fine print of car commercials, above.

Black MacBook costs more than the white MacBook garners "Manhattan Apple Store Accused of Discriminating Against Black Men" headline.

Apple, meanwhile, sues teen who made white iPhone conversion kit.Continue reading...