McDonald's' activity around the sponsorship will begin with the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic 2009, and then the NHL All-Star Game in Montreal. The company says it has also bought advertising on NHL Network and NHL.com and NBC and Versus. As part of its activation at the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic 2009, at Chicago's Wrigley Field, McDonald's will give away $5 McCafé-themed Arch Cards to fans seated in a select section of the park during intermission. ...Read the whole story

"Despite the unit sales increase from November, December's expected 9.8 million [seasonally adjusted annual rate] will be the lowest of the year," said Jesse Toprak, executive director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com. "As questions about the economy remain unanswered, many consumers are reluctant to respond to the incredibly generous deals available on new cars." ...Read the whole story

One application, available via Facebook," is called "The Battle of the Bulge." Users answer a few questions and are assigned a virtual waistline. Through the Facebook network, other users can "fling fat" at you, which would expand your waistline and lead to a possible online heart attack. Answering health-related questions correctly can shrink the size of the virtual waistline and enable you to throw fat at your friends. ...Read the whole story

While the industry is "experiencing unprecedented challenges due to the economic recession and elevated food prices," National Restaurant Association President/CEO Dawn Sweeney stressed its innovation and responsiveness to the needs of budget-conscious consumers--who are expected to spend nearly half of their food budgets in restaurants in 2009. ...Read the whole story

Quick-serve operators ranked healthy kids' meal options as the top food trend in their segment for 2009. In a separate "what's hot" survey of more than 1,600 American Culinary Federation member chefs, nutritionally balanced children's dishes came in fourth among the 200-plus culinary items listed, and fruit/vegetable side items for kids ranked sixth. ...Read the whole story

BrandIndex derives brand scores from 100 to -100 by subtracting negative feedback from positive. In this respect, Southwest nabbed a 40.0 value ranking, flying well above No. 2 JetBlue (16.9), which itself was miles ahead of No. 3 AirTran (3.0). In buzz, Southwest also soared, with a 30.6 score vs. JetBlue's 8.9 and Continental's 2.4. ...Read the whole story

Top 10 DMAs that are home to adults who bought fine jewelry in the past 12 months: 1 Harlingen/ Weslaco/ Brownsville/ McAllen, Texas 2 Norfolk/ ... ...More