Pepsi is spending millions on a test program in Chicago to encourage inner-city African-Americans and Latinos to adopt healthier eating and exercise habits--without seeing any loss in sales for the company. It is encouraging, for example, bodega owners to stock baked-snack alternatives to the popular but calorie-laden snacks, like Flamin' Hot Cheetos and Nacho Cheese Doritos. Whether a giant snack and soda maker should proselytize healthier diets remains a question within the company's Purchase, N.Y. headquarters and among critics. Beyond selling the idea to consumers, Pepsi must persuade skeptical sales reps whose pay is driven by sales, and win …

L'Oréal Paris will announce in New York today the first recipients of an honor the company is sponsoring--the Women of Worth Award--at an event called the CNN Inspire Summit. It will be the first production of the new CNN Events division, which will put on marketer-sponsored panels, conferences and meetings about newsmaking and newsworthy subjects. Although the events will not be televised on CNN, the network's reporters and anchors will serve as speakers and moderators. A second CNN event, planned for next month, will focus on small business and will be sponsored by UPS. Larry Bloomenkranz, vice president for …

Even if you're tired of hearing that brown is the "new black," you may not be aware of whom you have to thank for the latest color trend. It's Starbucks coffee, according to color forecaster Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of Pantone Color Institute. Before Starbucks outlets started popping up on every corner in the mid-1990s, dark brown had an earthy, utilitarian reputation. Now, in word-association studies, people described it as "rich" and "robust," as opposed to "dirt" or "earth." Eiseman is part of a specialized group of professional forecasters who are the invisible force influencing which colors walk down …

Cotton Inc. has launched "Cotton. From Blue to Green," a 14-college cause-marketing effort encouraging students to trade in their old denim jeans so they can be converted to insulation used in the reconstruction of schools damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Cotton Inc. is recycling the donated denim into UltraTouch, a natural cotton fiber insulation. To motivate students, retailer Buckle is handing out coupons for $5 off the purchase of a pair of jeans for every piece of denim clothing donated. The goal is to collect 500 pairs of jeans at each of the stops on the tour; so far students have …

A new restaurant chain-in-the-making called uWink that will feature games, movie trailers, horoscopes and other media has struck sponsorship deals with Evian and Stockholm vodka. Product descriptions and logos for the brands will appear on touchscreens that allow uWink customers to participate in media activities, engage other tables and eventually, interact with people at other uWink restaurants. The first uWink is set to open shortly at the Westfield Promenade in Woodland Hills, CA. Two to three more restaurants are expected to open in the next few months in Southern California. Evian's and Stockholm's marketing will include messaging that lets …

A variety of products produced by Converse, Gap, American Express, Motorola and Armani will be sold under a single brand name--Red--with part of the profits donated to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The campaign was created by the musician Bono and Bobby Shriver, a California politician and member of the Kennedy family. "Red is one of the first major efforts to tap more Americans to contribute to fighting AIDS a continent away," says Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman who has made fighting AIDS a center of his own philanthropy. "And they can do so simply, just …

Starting next month, Burger King will be selling three games developed for Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360 that feature its "King" advertising mascot. "Big Bumpin'," "Sneak King" and "PocketBike Racer" will be sold in more than 7,500 BK restaurants for $3.99 with the purchase of a value meal. Russ Klein, president of marketing strategy and innovation, says, "We know that the eyeballs in the increasingly fractured media world are harder to get, and gaming is one of the places they are going." The move follows a three-year push into other emerging media, such as micro sites, mobile phones, video downloads …

Customers who purchase designated 2007 and select 2006 Volkswagens will get a guitar made by First Act that can plug directly into the car's sound system, as well as a personal computer, via a built-in pre-amp. The instruments feature the VW logo, display the vehicle identification number of the owner's model, have custom-color pick guards that match the cars, guitar straps made of safety belts, VW knobs and blue indicator lights that match the vehicle's instrument panel. A multimedia campaign promoting the program includes TV ads starring guitarists Slash, John Mayer and Christopher Guest--the latter reprising his role as Nigel …

With sales of organic baby foods rising 19 percent last year, Wal-Mart, Similac and Hain Celestial are gearing up to increase their share of the $6.6 million segment of the overall $3.1 billion market. Last February, Similac was the first national brand to launch an organic baby formula. Wal-Mart rolled out Parent's Choice this past summer. Organic food company Hain Celestial starts to ship Earth's Best Infant Formula this month. All three brands are targeting "Yoga Mommies"--a term coined in a study from Packaged Facts last February on the U.S. infant product market. The study examined the lifestyles of …

McDonald's has launched a new Monopoly promotion that will award $5 million to a grand-prize winner who collects all four Monopoly railroad game pieces at participating restaurants, as well as a host of other prizes from sponsors Best Buy and American Express. Similar to last year's game, customers have four ways to win: instant-win, collect-and-win, Best Buy Bucks, and online. In-store, customers can collect game pieces off hash browns, large fries, medium and large soft drinks, Premium Chicken sandwiches, and three- and five-piece Chicken Selects. Consumers who buy a Premium Chicken Sandwich or Chicken Selects, for example, are guaranteed to …