Consumer electronics marketer Sony is being taken to task for a new ad campaign in Europe that some critics claim is racist. The new print effort is for the company's PlayStation Portable game unit, and advertises the fact that the PSP now comes in white as well as the traditional black. It shows a striking image of a white woman dressed in white grabbing a black woman--in what appears to be at best, a stern warning, or at worst, the start of a serious smack-down. In California, Assembly Speaker pro Tem Leland Yee said playing different racial groups off each …

Most marketers strive for the kind of logo recognition enjoyed by marketers like Nike, McDonald's, or Burberry--where even a glance at a swoosh, the golden arches, or the famous plaid check conjures up the company's name. But Burberry has found that sometimes such recognition results in too much of a good thing. The retailer and fashion house has found that in recent years, it attached its plaid to too many products, and its brand image slid, with even British soccer hooligans wearing it. The problem was compounded by counterfeit goods. But Burberry's new CEO Angela Ahrendts plans to fix the …

Back in the 1960s, at the height of the advertising industry's so-called "creative revolution," a popular print campaign for Levy's rye bread showed people of various ethnic backgrounds enjoying the bread under a headline that read: "You Don't Have to be Jewish to Love Levy's." Now, another marketer long associated with targeting primarily Jewish consumers is also trying to branch out. Manischewitz, the leading marketer of kosher foods, is expanding its marketing efforts to reach mainstream shoppers with a new ad campaign aimed at the general market as well as at consumers who traditionally buy kosher products for religious reasons. …

In an unusual case of corporate skullduggery and marketing intrigue in the fiercely competitive soft drink industry, three people have been arrested and charged with stealing confidential information about a new product from Coca-Cola Co. and trying to sell the secrets to rival Pepsi-Cola. The plan was thwarted by Pepsi, who reported the attempted sale to Coke--who then called in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Following a sting operation, the FBI arrested two men and one woman, who was an administrative assistant to a top-level Coke employee. "We commend PepsiCo's good corporate citizenship, the Coca-Cola Co.'s immediate referral to law …

Southwest Airlines has a distinctive way of letting its customers know about special deals. The carrier sends them special e-mail alerts that arrive with the company's signature bell tone. The program, called DING, was rolled out in 2005, and now has more than 2 million subscribers. Now the company is taking the program a step further by offering a customized service for ten airports that enables consumers to receive information on fare specials. "Our customers love DING!, and have asked us to offer the ability to customize their airport offers sent through the tool," said Anne Murray, Southwest's senior director …

Auto marketer BMW of North America knows that many of its customers love golf. That's why the company is expanding its sponsorship connection to professional gold by establishing its own tournament. Under a new agreement with the Professional Golfers' Association (PGA) Tour and the Western Golf Association, BMW will sponsor the third leg of four PGA Tour playoff tournaments that are part of the new FedExCup competition, which begins next year. Dubbed the BMW Championship, the tournament will be played for a week in September 2007 at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Chicago. Beginning in 2008, the tournament …

Marketers are eschewing big-budget special effects and wildly imaginative scenarios in their advertising in favor of a more realistic, demonstration-oriented approach. That's the point of view expressed by marketing consultants Marc Babej and Tim Pollak, partners in Reason Inc. "Whether prompted by the popularity of reality TV, or the realization that consumers are no longer buying metaphorical hype, we may be entering a new era of no-holds-barred, true-life demonstrations," they write in this essay. They use as an example the current campaign from Volkswagen for the Jetta, which depicts two men driving along a street when they are suddenly hit …

In its efforts to relaunch the Rabbit, Volkswagen is using some out-of-the-box marketing techniques developed by ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. One of those is a video-rich Web site intended to engage Web users and position the Rabbit as an ideal vehicle for city drivers. The site includes an element known as the Gypsy Cab Project, in which a character named Steve drives around New York City in a Rabbit fitted out like a cab while offering free rides to strangers. The car is equipped with hidden cameras that record the rides and provide visitors to the site with …

Line extensions are a common and usually safe way for a marketer to capitalize on the success of a popular brand. They are less risky--and cost less--than launching a new product, and have the advantage of built-in familiarity with consumers. However, they don't always work. Take the case of KitKat bars in the U.K., where the tasty treat has been among the best-selling candies in Britain since they were invented there in the 1930s. A few years ago, KitKat parent Nestle SA decided to extend the brand, and rolled out a dizzying array of new KitKats. For the summer months, …

The jury is still out on whether consumer-generated content is a good idea for marketers, but that hasn't stopped a long list of major advertisers from experimenting with the new and controversial genre. Emerald Nuts, Chevrolet, and Cartoon Network have all recently created promotions and contests around such content, in which consumers create material to run on a brand's Web site. The marketers' hope is that such interaction will lead to a loyal relationship with a brand, but some experts are skeptical. "Consumers who participate certainly feel pumped," says Marian Salzman, trend spotter and chief marketing officer at ad agency …