For 50 years, James Bond has been finding his way out of life-threatening situations and winning hearts on the world’s silver screens. Friday, Oct. 5th marks the 50th anniversary of Bond on the silver screen, which is being promoted as Global James Bond Day. And in about a month, the British spy will come striding onto the big screen once again, so that means the heavy media push is now on.

The upcoming Bond film, Skyfall, has already been raising some eyebrows with the news that 007 will enjoy a Heineken during the film and not his typical martini tipple, with fans encouraged to help the new Bond girl, Severine, "crack the case" in a Facebook mystery game. But plenty of other marketers are jumping on the film’s release as well to encourage consumers to be more like the women-objectifying, consistently drinking, hidden-weapon-wielding Bond.Continue reading...

With less than two weeks left before the XXX Olympics (hold your snickers) kick off on July 27th, brands that paid big bucks to be involved are getting their names out there in every way possible while those who didn’t unload their wallets are keeping busy figuring out how they can capitalize on all those eyeballs without getting themselves into any kind of trouble. But first, a word from an Olympics sponsor:

McDonald’s Succumbs to Chip Pressure

Britain, of course, is known for its fine fish and chips so it seemed like blasphemy, especially to the workers at this year’s Games, that the only fries that would be available in Olympic venues would be sold by American fast-food giant McDonald’s — which is, of course, an official IOC sponsor — at its temporary restaurants on the Olympics site. Following an outcry, the London 2012 Organizing Committee has agreed to allow other vendors of chips on the premises, which comes as good news to the 800 food vendors who can now sell their chips to Olympics visitors and personnel. It's not a huge chip off the shoulders of McDonald's UK, which projects that revenue from Olympics sales will represent less than 0.1% of its annual sales.Continue reading...

Mad Men season five debuts tonight in the U.K. on Sky, and marketers are lining up to produce 60's-style commercials. According to Campaign (where you can watch a couple of the retro spots), marketers climbing into the wayback machine include American Airlines, the British Milk Marketing Forum, Fairy liquid, Cadbury's Milk Tray, Tetley, Citroën, and Kit Kat.

AMR CEO defends job cuts at American Airlines.

AOL doubles down with investment in Huffington Post streaming TV network.

Apple dealt legal setback against Motorola, expands patent fight with Samsung.

Amazon could burn through its cash.

AstraZeneca plans to cut another 7,300 jobs.

Banana Republic brings back Mad Men collection with AMC.

Chipotle holds the line on pricing.

Chrysler re-launches in U.K. with Super Bowl spot on Sky.

Coca-Cola ties effort encouraging teens to Black History Month.Continue reading...

A rather fascinating case study on product placement in the U.K. suggests that the recent relaxation of rules on the marketing practice may not be creating the free-for-all many critics feared.

NMG Product Placement, which has been measuring the practice since 1987, looked at the new Sky sitcom Trollied, which is set in a fictional Valco (hello Tesco!) supermarket — prime product placement territory. NMG found that, despite the producers' apparent efforts to secure paying placements, "no such deals were done, and in the event the entire set was dressed by free prop supply product placement."

So what does this suggest about "paid for" product placement's future on British TV?Continue reading...

Apple will introduce new iPhones next month, board member Al Gore confirms.

Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are hit by ratings downgrades by Moody's.

Bill Gates tops 2011 Forbes 400 wealth ranker.

Facebook is introducing a 'listen with your friends' music app but faces challenges in digital entertainment.

Full Tilt Poker fires back at Justice Department.

Hulu invests in content even as it's for sale.

Netflix teams with Discovery for two-year deal.

News Corp. nixes a "Simpsons" channel but has big hopes for FX.Continue reading...

BP's new commercial featuring CEO Tony Hayward hit YouTube and US TV yesterday. The damage control isn't just aimed at BP's brand, but the "gaffe-prone" Hayward and images such as AP's latest. After addressing BP on CNN last night, a "furious" President Obama is heading to the disaster site again today. And crowdsourcing solutions to the spill is officially a cottage industry.

McDonald's recalls 12 million cadmium-tainted Shrek Forever After glasses.

NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg appeals directly to LeBron James to join the Knicks.Continue reading...