Two strikes and you're in the hole. That's where Chrysler stands with social-media mistakes today after the company took down (as we suspected they might) a timely but insensitive promotional video on YouTube that was first noted by brandchannel Editor-in-Chief Shirley Brady.

The four-second video depicted a Dodge Viper that had been edited into a video to look like it was riding on the meteor that exploded over Russia's Ural Mountains today with the power of an atomic bomb, its sonic blasts shattering countless windows and injuring about 1,100 people.

Titled "Viper Rides Meteor" on the Chrysler Group's PR-managed Pentastar Video YouTube channel today, the short clip came with the description: "Yeah ... it's that fast. The SRT Viper outraces that meteor :)" Actually, the pricey sports car has a top speed of about 206 mph, Road and Track says. Russian authorities estimated that today's meteor was traveling at about 30,000 to 45,000 mph when it cracked up.

A Chrysler source told brandchannel that the company was still investigating how the tasteless video percolated through internal procedures to reach its public YouTube channel. It's not the first time Chrysler has been so embarrassed on social media, either. In 2011, what Chrysler said was a compromised Twitter account led to a vulgar tweet that read, "Whoa -- What? RT @chryslerautos: I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to f------ drive."

Chrysler's Dodge Viper brand released a video titled "Viper Rides Meteor" on the Chrysler Group's Pentastar Video YouTube channel today, with the description: "Yeah...it's that fast. The SRT Viper outraces that meteor :)"

With more than 1,000 people injured, not to mention the brand's recall over airbags today, it's bad timing and taste for a video — let alone a smiley face. Watch it below.Continue reading...

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As a marker for the U.S. auto industry, the New York International Auto Show traditionally has battled for second place with those in Chicago and Los Angeles. The annual Detroit show in January is the most important platform.

But at this point in the recovery of the American auto market, it's hard to believe that any platform anywhere could be more important than the New York show that, after press previews last week, is now in its full splendor for the TriState automotive public. The exhibition is providing consumers with the first glimpses of some new models that could occupy increasingly important positions in the market over the next several months as automakers seek a return to sales levels of 14 million or more for 2012, which would make up roughly half the distance between their Great Recession trough and the halcyon days of 17 million sales per year a decade ago.

Beyond the splashes made by a new version of Chrysler's Viper, and the greeting for Nissan's competition-winning Taxi of Tomorrow for New York City, here are some other brand highlights of the show:

Acura: Honda's luxury brand is trying to become relevant again in the most tried-and-true way: launching a flurry of new products. The RLX sport-sedan concept on display at NYIAS will soon go into a production version that will be on sale early next year and replace Acura's slow-selling RL. Continue reading...

Kicking off this week's Brand Bites, model Bar Refaeli's new under.me lingerie line campaign channels an iconic cheeky tennis poster.

PETA take note: the Sierra Club's new "Coal Will Say Anything" campaign shows how it's done.Continue reading...