Sometimes a brand blazes a trail, only to find itself outrun by the competition. 

Back in 2006, entrepreneur Blake Mycoskie, who made his name and a small fortune as a contestant on reality TV show, The Amazing Race, came up with a unique proposition for a new brand, TOMS Shoes. The business model: TOMS would donate a pair of shoes to a child who lived in poverty for every pair of shoes sold. The philanthropic concept quickly became a sensation that catapulted the company's brand awareness to superstar status.

Not surprisingly, other companies started to knock off the idea. The most egregious copycat has been a line of shoes called "BOBS" that Skechers introduced in 2010. BOBS not only look exactly like TOMS signature shoe, right down to the logo stitched on a visible exterior label, but Skechers also shamelessly followed TOMS' "one-for-one" model of giving away a pair of shoes for every pair sold.Continue reading...

"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.

Just four days before the game, only a few Super Bowl advertisers have kept the creative content of their commercials entirely under wraps — and even fewer are yet to come forward reveal their participation.

One of the last hand-raisers came clean today: Speed Stick, which will air its first-ever Super Bowl commercial. The spot will represent the latest execution of "Handle It," a campaign that "celebrates moments when guys are sweating on the inside but step up and Handle It on the outside," according to a release.

In the spot, "Laundry," which was crowdsourced by the Tongal video community, a man demonstrates that he knows how to "handle it" in a laundromat when a woman finds him accidentally handling a pair of her panties. With the ad, Speed Stick and parent Colgate joinma men's personal-care battle-within-a-battle during the Super Bowl, competing against Unilever's Axe (which is sending contest winners to space).

Calvin Klein is also making its Super Bowl debut, and it's also about men and underwear:Continue reading...

Above: Tracy Morgan in a teaser for Kraft's Super Bowl ad for its Mio water mix-ins.

There's no doubting the need or the stakes. That's why it isn't too surprising Research in Motion revealed on Friday that it will air a 30-second advertisement for its new BlackBerry 10 smartphone and operating system during the Super Bowl on Feb. 3.

BlackBerry's market share has dwindled, of course, in the wake of the onslaught by Apple, Google and Samsung on the smartphone market. Yet RIM executives have been maintaining that the 10 — with an all-new modus operandi and hardware — is not only the company's last chance, but also a game-changer. They're scheduled to reveal details on Wednesday.

"A Super Bowl commercial is a great opportunity to show the redesigned, re-engineered and reinvented BlackBerry to tens of millions of consumers on the largest advertising stage of the year," RIM CMO Frank Boulben said in a statement. The company already staged an ad takeover of the home page of the New York Times website in December.Continue reading...

Skechers recently got itself into hot water when it had to shell out $40 million to settle a suit brought against it by the Federal Trade Commission to settle false advertising charges that its “toning sneakers” could make consumers look and actually be healthier without having them change their behavior in any other way.

Now the shoe brand is looking to build back some of the good feeling it torpedoed with that incident.

The company just announced that it has “donated its first million pair of kids’ shoes through its BOBS from SKECHERS program, which gives a new pair to a child in need for every BOBS footwear purchase.” Those shoes will be finding the feet of kids in the U.S., Central America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

The BOBS sub-brand, which already mimics philanthropic brand TOMS in name, logo and shoe design, is clearly taking a cue from TOMS' "One For One" mission, which donates a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased.

That clearly doesn't bother celebrity ambassador Brooke Burke-Charvet, the co-host of Dancing With the Stars, who trades her Skecher Shape-ups "toning shoes" for BOBS for the photo opp.Continue reading...

CNBC joins with Yahoo to bolster web reach via content, programming and distribution alliance.

Comcast and fellow U.S. cable operators face DOJ inquiry over treatment of Netflix and Hulu.

New York's proposed big soda ban goes to public comment as former Coca-Cola exec switches sides.

American Express sponsors Kenny Chesney concert for live-streaming on YouTube.

Apple is likely killing Ping.

Burger King's summer BBQ menu rolls out with sweet potato fries and bacon sundae.

Citi partners with USAID to foster mobile commerce in developing nations.Continue reading...

NBCU's Universal Studios has announced that Skechers' Twinkle Toes character Grace Hastings will star in a full-length feature film, Twinkle Toes: The Movie, debuting exclusively on DVD on July 31st.

The face of the best-selling SKECHERS Kids footwear line, the popular Twinkle Toes character triumphs over “her most secret fears and learns to celebrate her individuality with energy, pizzazz and super-cute shoes!” 

The animated Grace "Twinkle Toes" Hastings, is a fashion icon for the under-13 set, according to the press release: “Hip, flamboyant and original, Grace embodies a combination of sparkle, sass and style, which has made SKECHERS' Twinkle Toes footwear a favorite of celebrity kids and fashion divas alike.”

The SKECHERS Kids collection is the number one children's footwear brand in the US, according to the company, with more than 10 million pairs of Twinkle Toes sold.

Dish Network runs into resistance for placing its ad about its ad-skipping DVR.

Pinterest valued at $1.5 billion.

Unilever tests interactive TV concept with NBCU.

Angry Birds footwear? Check.

Apple awarded U.S. patent for soft keyboard as Retina Display patent application for OSX revealed.

Boyd Gaming to buy Peninsula Gaming.

Bristol-Myers Squibb set to lose patent protection for Plavix.

Buca di Beppo has aggressive growth in sight, new CEO says.

CNN hits 15-year low with prime-time ratings.

Comcast's NBC Sports Network will break cable record for Olympics coverage.

Facebook confronts skepticism about its advertising in wake of GM pullout.Continue reading...