Comedy Central partners with Urban Outfitters on Indecision 2012 collection.

7-11, Walmart, Target and other big retailers team up on mobile wallet to combat Google Wallet.

Apple reportedly in talks with U.S. cable operators to develop a set-top box; and takes a swing at Amazon.

Johnson & Johnson launches ingredient transparency website for baby and beauty products as J&J removes formaldehyde from products.

Bumbo foam child seats recalled following injuries.

Calvin Klein sued by Lululemon for alleged patent infringement.

Chick-fil-A uproar may have inspired gunman.Continue reading...

Ad Age honors China's women to watch.

AT&T faced with technicians' class action suit; promotes anti-texting campaign.

Axe brand releases music track.

Ben & Jerry's gets a boost on Robert Pattinson's The Daily Show segment.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation supports next-generation toilets.

Condoleeza Rice and Serena Williams endorse new NFL women's clothing line.

Facebook tests promoted newsfeed posts for non-fans.Continue reading...

Amazon and eBay eye same-day delivery as Amazon site traffic soars.

App.net woos digerati and raises funds for paid social network.

Apple calls final witnesses in contentious Samsung trial as brand's fans seen losing their edge.

Baidu among Barrons' top 10 Chinese brands.

Barclays chairman promises change.

Bermuda readies new branding campaign.

Costco sees deluge of cross-border Canadian shoppers.Continue reading...

American Airlines faces record safety penalty, tests hotel baggage delivery service.

Amazon sees pay-off from locker service, looks to acquire more patents.

Apple shelves "Genius" TV campaign, puts former designer on the stand against Samsung and plans to beef up security.

AT&T sees 20,000 employees go on strike.

Bank of America brings discounts to bank statements.

Chiquita seeks new CEO as Undercover Boss star exits.

Chrysler’s Dodge pulls out of NASCAR.Continue reading...

The vast majority of wealth managers and private banks are dealing quite “clumsily” with social media according to a recent study of 50 leading private banks and wealth management firms by Swiss consulting firm assetinum.com.

“Amateurish” social media strategies, “hibernation” on Facebook and “tokenism attitudes” towards Twitter and YouTube are abundant.

Of the institutions assessed on a 100-point scale, the average score was 43 points. Twenty-seven of the firms did not reach half the maximum points in the Facebook category; 25 fell short in the website and mobile category; 25 scored less than half in the Twitter assessment, and for YouTube and LinkedIn the scores were 29 and 21.

While 42 out of 50 banks have Twitter accounts, just 26 are active in response to posts and only 13 posted content about wealth management. Nineteen banks have blogs with only six of those interacting proactively with consumers.Continue reading...

Tough guy Mickey Rourke laughing at himself in Snickers ad is great, though it's no Steven Seagal for Mountain Dew commercial. (via)

Get the "real story" behind Apple's "Think Different" ad campaign.

Google is being lobbied to quit a lobbying group: the US Chamber of Commerce. To find out more, Google: "Google + quit + US Chamber of Commerce."

Parental SEO alert, from "12 Harsh Truths About the Internet": "If you want your kid to be Googleable, you'll have to give them a weird-ass name."Continue reading...

Despite brand's global decline, China celebrates 60 years of Communism. [Reuters]

Kraft, L'Oreal and P&G capitalize on opportunity in China during the economic crisis. [Warc]

Bank of America chief executive Ken Lewis will step down by year's end. [Times of London]

Behind the collapsed Penske deal to buy Saturn from GM, who will now shut the brand. [LA Times]

Comcast denies formal deal to buy NBC Universal from GE. [NY Times]

Coca-Cola plans ad campaign to fight "soda tax," obesity epidemic. [Warc]

Global ad market show signs of bottoming out. [NY Times]

(More headlines: Pepsi boosts ad spend, banks agree to bonus rules.)Continue reading...