Ray-Ban is planning to revive Wayfarers, the boxy plastic shades that have conveyed beat hip on Bob Dylan, Tiffany chic on Audrey Hepburn and bluesy authenticity on John Belushi. The company is also reaching out to a new consumer: fashionable women. While the new Wayfarers have kept their overall original look, Ray-Ban's parent company--Luxottica Group SpA--is softening the edges of the old macho shades by introducing more feminine colors, such as white and red. Available for as little as $29 in the Nineties, pricing now starts at $129.95. During the next few months, Ray-Ban is planning product placements …

With the exception of the Crunchy Singles bar, M&M Mars is dropping its M-Azing candy bar line, apparently with the intention of relaunching the product in 2008 under another name. M-Azing embeds M&M's into a chocolate bar. An executive close to the company says that when the bar is reintroduced, the company will "do a better job telling consumers what it is." The line has included a Crunchy Peanut Butter Singles bar and miniatures of both varieties. Mars will put its energies this year toward the new limited-edition Snickers Dark, coming in December, as well as on new …

Stolichnaya vodka is kicking off an effort to woo the trendsetting gay and lesbian market with an hour-long, ad-free documentary called "Be Real: Stories From Queer America" that will air on the Logo cable channel Sunday. The show will open and close with "sponsored by Stoli" messages and a 30-second ad for Stoli's latest flavor, Blueberi. The film will appear at least 10 times on Logo as part of their year-long deal. Stoli is also developing a six-episode reality show, "Be Real," that is scheduled to air on Logo in April. It will profile pairs of couples going through …

Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble took the top scores in meeting consumer and shopper needs as retailers and manufacturers respectively, according to Cannondale Associates 10th annual PoweRanking Survey. Wal-Mart held on to the top spot for the eighth consecutive year, despite a slip in points compared to last year. It was followed by Target, Kroger, Costco and Publix. Safeway, at No. 8, made notable improvement, driven by a concerted effort with its Lifestyle format and a focus on consumer segmentation. Among manufacturers, Kraft held the No. 2 spot, and brand companies such as PepsiCo, Kellogg, Unilever and Kimberly-Clark achieved …

The CEO of AutoNation, the largest dealer of new cars and trucks in the U.S., says that GM, Ford and Chrysler need to initiate an aggressive combination of incentives and production cuts to deal with its inventory glut. "The challenge that we have is even greater than people are talking about," says Mike Jackson, who is responsible for 80 General Motors Corp., 48 Ford Motor Co. and 58 Chrysler Group dealerships nationwide, in addition to 147 other auto franchises. All three automakers respond that they already are taking steps to cut production. The problem, according to Jackson, is …

GlaxoSmithKline's Requip should make about $500 million this year--not bad for a drug that treats a syndrome that few people knew existed before the company launched a multi-pronged marketing effort in 2004. Glaxo began its blitz by advertising restless-legs syndrome (RLS) to doctors in medical journals. Then it sent specialists to discuss the disease with general practitioners. The drug was so heavily advertised directly to consumers that some doctors accuse Glaxo of disease-mongering. Requip--a compound that regulates the brain chemical dopamine, which is responsible for controlling body movements--was originally developed to treat Parkinson's disease. Glaxo realized Requip's potential …

Wendy's, McDonald's and Pizza Hut are experimenting with using call centers as a way to improve drive-through service. Because the call center workers' only job is to take orders, they have time to be friendlier and to speak clearly and slowly--unlike workers who have other tasks to perform. Call-center employees are also trained to increase sales through "suggestive selling," the official term for the classic line "Do you want fries with that?" When customers pull up to the drive-through at a Wendy's in Lexington, Ky., for example, a call-center employee elsewhere in the city asks for the order and …

Chivas Regal is dangling a stipend of $100,000 each as it sets out on a nationwide search for its third pair of brand ambassadors. The two consumers chosen will use the money to locate one-of-a-kind experiences they will then chronicle for a year on an online travelogue at ChivasCircle.com. Chivas Live Studio--a custom-built modern lounge--debuted in New York this week and will then travel to Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas and Chicago. Applicants can apply there in person by day, and be filmed as part of the application process. This year's ambassadors, Bill Faries and Dana …

The companies--Marble Slab Creamery, Cold Stone Creamery and MaggieMoo's International--are competing with each other to be the Starbucks of ice cream. But to succeed, they need to take customers from the market leaders Dairy Queen and Baskin-Robbins and the more than 15,000 other shops across the U.S. Each of the Starbucks wannabes sells various flavors of premium ice cream and allow customers to choose from an assortment of "mix-ins," like crumbled cookies, candies, fruits and nuts. Employees then blend the ingredients on a granite or marble slab. The total cost can easily top $5 for a medium serving. Premium …

Despite Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic remarks following a drunk-driving collar, but given his presumed mea culpas, Walt Disney Co.'s film marketers say he will play a major role in pushing "Apocalypto," a period epic with dialogue in ancient Mayan. "It's critical that he be the voice and face of this film," says Jim Gallagher, president of Buena Vista Pictures Marketing, which is distributing the film. Gibson is listed as writer, producer and director, and he reportedly spent $50 million of his own money to make it. After a two-part interview with Diane Sawyer on Disney-owned ABC's "Good Morning America," …