McDonald's UK will introduce Mad Men-inspired uniforms at London 2012 Olympics venue.

Kia Soul scores in J.D. Power auto quality study while Lexus repeats as #1 overall and Ford and Chrysler slip in key automotive rankings.

Starbucks to open first tea-only store under Tazo brand.

Facebook Credits system is being phased out for new payment platform, while IPO attracts Capitol Hill inquiry, "like" button migrates to third-party mobile apps, and unique visitors drop.

Apple fined in Australia for misleading iPad advertising.

BlackBerry-maker RIM downsizes workforce.

Cabot to buy Norit for $1.1 billion.

Cannes Lions announces winners for creative effectiveness, media, mobile and outdoor.Continue reading...

Gap Inc. credits its record first quarter results to Banana Republic's first designer collaboration: the two-time Mad Men collection created by the show's costumer, Janie Bryant. Now it's hoping lightning will strike twice, with its second collaboration also evoking the swinging sixties, thanks to designer Trina Turk.

Banana Republic’s North American same-store sales rose 5 percent in the three months ended April 28, the most in two years, while total revenue at the unit rose 7.4 percent to a first-quarter best of $622 million, according to Gap’s earnings reported on May 17th. 

As Mad Men grapples with the changing styles and mores of the 1960's, Banana Republic is continuing on the same path by signing Turk, known for her colorful, Palm Springs-inspired, 'cocktails by the pool' summer-ready capsule collection, including the strapless dress worn by model Coco Rocha (who's guest style editor for Target this month), above. (A selection of Turk's BR designs, arriving June 7th, will be available in a Gilt.com pre-sale at noon ET on Wednesday.)Continue reading...

Film: Men in Black 3
Total Products/Brands Spotted: 22
Standout Placement: Ford Taurus
Most Memorable Placement (positive): Glamour magazine
Most Memorable Placement (negative): Ford Taurus
Overall Product Placement Integration Grade (1-10): 5
Comments: Continuing the trend we noted a year ago with X-Men: First Class, the third installment in the Men in Black franchise — the world's new #1 movie — sets a good position of its action (and its viral marketing) decades back, cashing in on the 1960s craze. This setting allows for period-appropriate product placement such as one for Hamilton watches and placement gags involving Glamour magazine, Rolaids, the New York Mets and Viagra.

But the real star of the show is Ford, which is once again launching its Taurus with a sci-fi film.Continue reading...

"Weekly World News is the Wall Street Journal of otherworldly headlines. Any cultural project that deals with what's 'really' out there needs to be working with us."

So said Neil McGinness, CEO of the Weekly World News, when brandchannel asked him about the co-promotional campaign the "newspaper" has been running with Men in Black 3, which is poised to take over as the new #1 movie from The Avengers.

As viral marketing tie-ins and product placements go, the partnership is a tremendously appropriate one. Weekly World News was, after all, with the Men in Black franchise since the beginning.Continue reading...

Cool Whip wasn't the only brand that popped up during Sunday night's Mad Men — a different kind of cool brand, one that whipped fans into a frenzy back in episode 508's day, was also very much in evidence: the Beatles.

It’s been more than four decades since the Fab Four last performed together. Since then, of course, John Lennon was assassinated and George Harrison died of lung cancer. While time has passed and much has changed, the Beatles remain one of the world’s powerhouse brands. One reason why is because those who protect it are still doing so extremely diligently. The band’s songs rarely are heard in any kind of situation other than on the radio or on whatever form of music player consumers prefer.

That changed this past Sunday night when AMC’s Mad Men used the “Tomorrow Never Knows” in an episode that partially chronicled protagonist Don Draper’s attempt to understand the youth culture. As part of his efforts, Draper puts “Revolver” on the stereo and listens to the tune, the last track on the album. Released in 1966, the song marks a bit of turning point musically for the band and era as it showcase the band’s experiments with psychedelia. Lennon used Timothy Leary’s The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead as inspiration for the lyrics.

Draper is befuddled by the song, but Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner wasn’t confused one bit.Continue reading...

ABC edges out NBC in the morning.

AOL pushes to grab TV-ad dollars.

Apple loses luster on its shares.

Audi set to buy Ducati, Bloomberg reports.

BlackBerry store sits as quiet marker of RIM failed strategy.

Coca-Cola profit beats estimates.

Coty says it has lined up capital for Avon bid.Continue reading...

Rocawear's first ever TV commercial features founder Jay-Z, above. In other celebrity brandcasting today, Burger King's new commercials feature Mary J. Blige, David Beckham, Jay Leno, and Salma Hayek promoting BK's 10 new menu items, its biggest menu expansion since 1954, which debuts today.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.