The Child Study Center at New York University is pulling a 2-week-old pro-bono campaign created by BBDO that used the device of ransom notes to deliver ominous messages concerning disorders like autism, depression, bulimia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The note about autism, for example, reads: "We have your son. We will make sure he will no longer be able to care for himself or interact socially as long as he lives." Advocates for children with autism and for other special-needs children say the ads reinforce negative stereotypes. Dr. Harold Koplewicz, the Child Study Center's founder and director, says …

Prof. Ryuta Kawashima, who helped develop Nintendo's "Brain Age" games, is teaming with Toyota to develop cars that help seniors drive safely. Among technologies on the table is one that can determine a driver's driving patterns and curb any dangerous activity, such as slowing the car if it senses the driver is hitting the gas pedal for no reason. "We envision future cars will be able to monitor brain and emotional activity to back up elderly drivers," says Kawashima, a Tohoku University scientist. Other developments could involve a navigation system and temperature controls that help drivers stay alert, he …

New advertising for Curves International--dubbed "The Body Campaign"--will celebrate women rather than focus on weight loss. The effort, featuring a "Your Curves will amaze you" tagline, breaks Monday. To better understand their audience (women, age 44-plus), Curves and agency Publicis Mid America, Dallas, conducted research that included the use of proprietary tools, such as Heart2Hearts, which are at-home talks with women, and Buzz Blast, which allowed them to monitor online conversations with technology originally developed for the military. "We monitored the online conversations so we could find out how women talked about Curves in a natural environment," says …

When Sara Lee--parent of Kiwi shoe polish--interviewed 3,500 people in eight countries about their shoe-care needs a couple of years ago, they were shocked at the results: People don't care nearly as much about the shine as they do about how fresh and comfortable their shoes are on the inside. Shine ranked 17th on a list of more than 20 attributes. Since then, Kiwi has unveiled a slew of new products, including "fresh'ins" (thin, lightly fragranced shoe inserts for women) and "smiling feet" (a line of cushions for heels and the balls of feet, antislip pads and strips that can …

The new, award-winning Chevrolet Malibu and Buick Enclave are the consummation of an agonizingly slow process in which the world's largest automaker completely reworked the way it designs and develops new cars and trucks. There's never been a shortage of talented engineers and designers at GM, but for decades, the company's processes, politics and management blocked creativity and innovation. "GM now has a hyper-efficient, product-focused vehicle development program," says Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics of Birmingham. Its vehicle-development system today stands alongside Toyota and BMW as the best in the industry, Hall believes. The changes that led …