Maybe he's a fan of the disco pant. Or maybe he's tired of advancing his "one world" socialist government crusade. Whatever's driving him, it seems George Soros is ready to bail out American Apparel.

According to the American Apparel of the newspaper business, The New York Post, "Crystal Financial, a Boston-based firm that boasts Soros’ hedge fund as its lead investor, will immediately replace and expand a $75 million revolving credit line from Bank of America." Of course, the paper did not pass up a chance to note that Soros, like American Apparel founder Dov Charney, shared a penchant for sexual harassment litigation.

But, like the billionaire's attempts to prop up the Obama regime, is it too little too late?Continue reading...

Since the 2008 election, Koch brothers David and Charles have taken an unabashed, high-profile role as the catalysts behind anti-Obama tea-party activism and movements. From funding small-government tea party seed groups like Americans for Prosperity to paying heavily for top lobbyists to loosen regulation on their Koch Industries oil and paper interests, their efforts have made "Koch" an almost household name.

Until now, the Kochs seemed to care little about the hostility they had aroused from the other side of the political spectrum. But recent online registrations prove that, behind the scenes, there are PR efforts afoot to protect the Koch brand.

Progressive activist group One Wisconsin Now points out that, last week, "Koch Industries registered at least three anti-Koch domains: StopKoch.com, StopKochIndustries.com, and AntiKoch.com."Continue reading...

The web world is a fickle mistress, even for high-rollers like Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, whose venture Jumo (which he discusses above with Stephen Colbert) was just acquired by GOOD, magazine-publisher-turned-digital-media-platform. The financial terms are: $0, an “advisory” role for Hughes, and the chance for Jumo’s 16 employees to reapply for their jobs with GOOD, according to Betabeat.

The guru behind Barack Obama’s acclaimed 2008 digital strategy (Fast Company called him, perhaps excessively, “The Kid Who Made Obama President”), Hughes proved less successful with a social network for philanthropy and activism.Continue reading...

Never say never, but it looks like Saab finally has located a Chinese financial partner that will allow the venerable Swedish automotive brand a lease on life at least for a year, the Pang Da Automobile Trade group.

After an existential rollercoaster that already has seen Saab dun suppliers, lose credit from them, and idle its factory in Trollhattan, Sweden, Saab chief Victor Muller announced on Monday that his Spyker Cars – owner of the Saab brand after General Motors dumped it last year – has signed a tentative financing and import deal with the largest publicly traded car distributor in China.

Of course, it was just late last week that Spyker was supposed to be talking with Chinese SUV maker Great Wall about a hook-up following the collapse of its previous tentative deal with yet another Chinese vehicle manufacturer, Hawtai Motor Group.

The reason for all this confusion is that the Chinese government is trying to winnow its profligate automotive sector down into six to 10 long-term players that can serve the nation’s booming consumer demand for vehicles and also compete effectively with imported brands that have captured the native population’s fancy — and that really covet the growth dynamics there.Continue reading...

Can a brand left for dead be revived by a satellite TV provider?

That's the question on the minds of analysts and investors alike as Dish Network made a winning bid yesterday valued at $320 million for the assets of video rental leader gone bankrupt, Blockbuster.

What's Dish up to? Tom Cullen, EVP with Dish, said in a statement, "Blockbuster will complement our existing video offerings while presenting cross-marketing and service extension opportunities for Dish Network."

But not everyone's buying that.Continue reading...

Hillary Clinton was less awed than "relieved" at the sight of the brand-centric U.S. pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo over the weekend.

According to the New York Times account of her visit, the U.S. Secretary of State (and future Secretary of Defense?) toured the pavilion's "Citibank- and Pfizer-sponsored theaters, gauzy eight-minute videos featuring representatives from Chevron, General Electric, and Johnson & Johnson, environmentally friendly features sponsored by Alcoa, and a gift shop with licensed merchandise from Disney."

Asked by a reporter what she thought, Clinton replied, “It’s fine. Can you imagine if we had not been here?” She also met with Indra K. Nooyi, the CEO of PepsiCo, and dined with other major sponsors.

America’s participation in the 2010 World Expo had been "in jeopardy because Congress restricts the spending of public money on world’s fairs," until major brand sponsors stepped up to the plate.

Though the Dow's back over 10,000, and record bonuses are again expected on Wall Street, luxury is still declining. So what's an ostensibly luxury auto brand like Mercedes Benz to do?

Though it seems the iconic German brand had a better than expected third quarter, word is that Mercedes will soon start to stress its autos' new safety technologies over their poshness.  Mercedes' VP of US marketing Steve Cannon tells Automotive News, "You have to give people the justification that says, 'Yes, a Mercedes-Benz is relevant to me -- it can save my life.'"Continue reading...

MySpace is aiming for a comeback. The Wall Street Journal reports the once-dominant News Corp-owned social network convened its global ad-sales staff to strategize ways to use its still-potent brand equity in entertainment to lure back visitors and kick-start advertising revenue.

Despite being eclipsed by Facebook, MySpace retains strong brand identity and remains a popular resource for music and videos. It's still a necessity for bands. This cultural positioning -- and the tagline, "a place for music" -- makes viable the site’s new shift.Continue reading...