Some marketing executives say Coca-Cola's new cell phone site for social networking, Sprite Yard, could become the BudTV of the soda world--a failed effort to build a community around a brand. Sprite Yard was introduced in China last week, and Coca-Cola plans to extend it globally--and perhaps to other soda brands--over the next few years. It will be introduced in the U.S. this month. For now, Sprite Yard will function only on cell phones--the medium that Sprite's marketing team says is the most popular with teenagers. People will type in codes from Sprite bottle caps to redeem original content, …

Wal-Mart is launching a Visa-branded prepaid payment card issued by GE Money that can be used almost anywhere that Visa debit cards are accepted, including ATMs. It will be targeted to the roughly 28 million people--9% of the U.S. population-who do not have bank accounts. Wal-Mart wouldn't confirm details about the card, which is featured on the Web site www.walmartmoneycard.com. A few retailers, including Safeway and Walgreens, already offer prepaid Visa cards that can be used anywhere, but Wal-Mart--as the largest retailer in the USA--would be able to reach a far greater number of consumers. Prepaid cards have …

Automotive site Edmunds.com has dubbed the Dodge Ram Pickup 1500 an editors' top pick. Adjacent to the glowing review, a prominent ad for rival General Motors' Chevy Silverado has appeared in recent weeks, touting its position as the 2007 Motor Trend Truck of the Year. The placement tactic is called "conquesting"-- an increasingly popular form of online advertising. Marketers take out ads right next to editorial content about their rivals. The aim is to convert consumers from one brand to another--and also to issue a public challenge. The practice--started in the auto industry--is spreading to other areas, like …

In a case bound to send a chill through the retail industry, Fendi and Sam's Club, a division of Wal-Mart, have settled a dispute that claimed the U.S. warehouse club sold counterfeit handbags and leather goods in five states. Under the sealed agreement, Sam's Club agreed to pay the Italian luxury firm a confidential amount to settle the dispute and dismiss the action, which had charged the retailer with selling "significant quantities" of counterfeit items valued "in the millions of dollars." Sam's Club is also offering its customers a full refund for any counterfeit Fendi bags, wallets and scarves …

The playoff performance of Cleveland Cavaliers 22-year-old superstar LeBron James--who almost single-handedly beat the Detroit Pistons in double overtime on May 31--will be memorialized in a black-and-white commercial that will air during the NBA finals. It shows James in slow motion, dunking on the Pistons in the first overtime. As he soars, the late gospel singer Marion Williams soulfully sings "I Shall Be Released." James has stated that he wants to become a "global icon" and the world's first billionaire athlete. His exposure in the finals will take him beyond basketball fans, helping him reach a mass audience. …

In the eight years that diabetes treatment Avandia has been for sale--becoming a $3-billion-a-year worldwide best seller--GlaxoSmithKline's African-American focus in the U.S. has won the company praise in the advertising industry and from some black doctors. They credit the campaigns for putting a friendly face on a drug for a disease that too often goes untreated. Now that Avandia is dogged by safety questions--a congressional hearing today will address concerns that it may increase the risk of heart attacks--some black advertising executives wonder if Glaxo's advertising strategy could end up working against the company. Competitors such as Byetta--which …

British retailers are beefing up their offerings of organic and premium foods as U.S. supermarket chain Whole Foods Market opens its biggest store ever--80,000-square feet--in London today. Tesco PLC, Britain's biggest retailer by sales, recently introduced a line of nuts and dried fruit called "Wholefoods." It patented the name in the U.K., preventing anyone else from using it for store-brand products. Whole Foods says it plans to use the "Fresh & Wild" name on its private-label products after a small chain of health-food stores it bought in 2004. Waitrose, another supermarket chain, has launched a line of …

Tesco is spending as much as $2 billion to launch a new chain of midsize grocery stores--Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets--starting in Southern California, Las Vegas and Phoenix markets this fall. The 100 stores the company has in the works might alter the supermarket landscape, possibly driving down prices and competing for workers--all at neighborhood locations away from huge shopping centers. Offerings at Fresh & Easy will be "less processed" than most packaged food, says Simon Uwins, Tesco's chief marketing officer. "We won't use artificial colors, artificial flavors and added trans fats." And the company won't sell cigarettes. …

"Locavores"--consumers who favor the local farmer and grocer over big national brands--are gaining traction across the country. There are no direct boycotts, protests or petitions. Locavores simply opt out of buying big national brands to shift market share back to locally owned businesses. Though it stems from personal epiphanies, the collective movement is growing. In 52 small towns and cities, "Local First" campaigns are being waged to draw more consumers. And there are signs that mainstream consumers are becoming more interested. The memoir from novelist Barbara Kingsolver of her family's year of eating only homegrown or locally bought …

Everything about Kristy Wang and Nik Kaestner's wedding day in San Francisco was decidedly "green"--from locally grown, organic vegetables and sustainably harvested fish to homemade tablecloths that were later turned into dinner napkins. The couple is part of a growing trend in the multimillion-dollar wedding industry--and businesses are cashing in. New York's OZOcar offers hybrid limousines; Boulder, Colo.,-based Organic Vintners helps wine lovers find all-natural vintages; and the Houston-based Green Hotels Association can find accommodations at places committed to saving water and energy and reducing solid waste. Around the nation, caterers are offering pesticide-free menus, and fine china and …