Altria, R.J. Reynolds and Lorillard face tougher tobacco marketing rules in US.

Apple launches app store for Mac software.

Bank of America categorizes clients, adds fees.

Boeing loses major 747 order due to delays.

BP spill inquiry to report that disaster "likely" to recur; and hears that microbes may have mitigated methane damage in the Gulf.

CNN books Oprah as first guest for Piers Morgan's post-Larry King debut on Jan. 17; Madonna still banned as "boring."Continue reading...

After racking up big-screen product placements in hit number one films Kick-Ass, Paranormal Activity 2, The Town, and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps this year, it appears Dunkin' Donuts isn't slowing down. The new trailer for the April 2011 sci-fi thriller Source Code features a mind-bending plot… and a delicious bag of Dunkin' bear claws (above). Check out more movie and TV product placements after the jump.Continue reading...

Adobe's CEO has fighting words for Apple.

Andy Warhol foundation beats lawsuit alleging rigged fakes.

Apple (Beatle's Apple) and EMI CEOs hammered out today's iTunes deal in two hours, reports the Wall Street Journal, as all 17 newly available Beatles albums enter the top 100 iTune sales on day one.

Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase agree to hold off on foreclosures.

BlackBerry-maker RIM says its PlayBook is 3x faster than Apple's iPad.

Corona signs tennis net branding deal for ATP world tour.

Ford UK shifts marketing focus to branded entertainment.Continue reading...

AOL and several private-equity firms are exploring making an offer to buy Yahoo, according to the Wall Street Journal, "devising a bold plan to marry two big Internet brands facing steep challenges." (The New York Times' take: not so fast.) Yahoo's shares soared this morning on the report.

Audi Q5, Cadillac SRX, Volvo XC60 and other "less sexy models" propel U.S. luxury auto sales.

Burberry sales rise, fueled by Asia.

BYD gets a setback in plant construction from the Chinese government.

Corona Light aims to be “most liked” brew on social media.

Edge shave gel launches “anti-irritation” campaign via Twitter.Continue reading...

Conan O'Brien is dubbed "the king of social media" by Fast Company, which praises his mix of social platforms with (of course) funny content. One particularly creative stunt building buzz ahead of his debut on TBS: Team Coco's use of Twitter, Flickr, Foursquare and a blimp, which you can see in action above.

Corona's new Facebook campaign will put fans' faces on a billboard in New York’s Times Square in a promotion starting Nov. 8.

More about Ning, Vaseline, Twitter and why CEOs are social wallflowers, after the jump.Continue reading...

Interbrand has released its 2010 ranking of the world's best global brands. The 11th annual assessment of the world's most successful brands for the first time doesn't include BP, which lost billions of dollars of value, and brand equity, due to the Gulf Oil spill.

"BP's environmental disaster and inability to make good on its brand promise of 'Beyond Petroleum' led to its falling off the list and helped competitor Shell emerge as an industry leader," Interbrand (the parent company of brandchannel) stated. As a result of BP's fall from grace, Shell is now ranked 81—up from 92 last year—in this year's standings.

Toyota, which also had a tough year in the wake of recall-related consumer mistrust, lost 16% of its brand value and fell out of the top 10, dropping from 8 to 11 as "its long-standing reputation for reliability, efficiency and innovation helped it weather the crisis better than expected.

Goldman Sachs, "once the envy of Wall Street," increased one position (from 38 to 37) and saw its brand valuation rise 1%. The financial services giant "faces the dichotomy of strong economic results and an angry public that will continue to lash out until the company begins to demonstrate that it is making sincere efforts to better align its ethics with its brand."

HP cracked into the top 10, making #10 "despite a challenging year" and for "smart additions to its product portfolio." Other tech brands, meanwhile, dominated the top five fastest gaining brands.Continue reading...

Pizza Hut viral dance craze sweeps South Korea, wooing teens with with in Seoul. (above)

OkCupid dating site breaks down attractiveness of users based on camera and mobile phone brands: Panasonic > Canon > Nikon.

Denny's joins the ridiculous sandwich wars with a Cheese stick sandwich.

New York City transit authority relents and accepts ads referencing 9/11 (more background here).

McDonald's french fry ad crosses over, literally.

Playboy's iPad app disappoints with no-nudity policy (that's right: Hef's keeping the smoking jacket on).Continue reading...

Bing grows on some users with the search features of the insurgent Microsoft brand, impinging on Google’s turf.

BlackBerry faces a ban in the United Arab Emirates over security issues.

CBS adds three gay roles in shows this fall to boost the network’s inclusivity.

Crown Imports succeeds in building its Corona Light beer brand with a unique advertising strategy.

Dollar General celebrates the opening of its 9,000^th store.

Ford completes sale of Volvo to Chinese automaker Geely, wrapping up Ford’s strategic effort to disentangle itself from its former stable of European luxury brands, which once included Aston Martin, Jaguar and Land Rover as well. Meanwhile, Ford plans to funnel more marketing resources into the Lincoln brand as it closes out Mercury.

Fox launches a new country-music awards show, to be aired on December 6.Continue reading...