Since June 1, Microsoft's small business logo has been emblazoned on the rear-quarter panel of Michael Waltrip Racing team's #00 car. The $1 million market-value spot on a Nascar Sprint Cup Series car hasn't cost it a penny. Instead, Microsoft got resellers and small businesses that use its software to pony up the sponsorship cash. So far, 40 partners have put in about $165,000 on behalf of Microsoft. They don't get to place their logos on the car, however. Under their agreement with Microsoft, they are allowed to put their logos on a mock-up of the #00 car, and …

Best Buy will announce today that it will sell Apple's newly launched 3G iPhone -- which lets users connect to the Web at high speeds -- at its 970 U.S. stores beginning on Sept. 7. About 600 stores will also showcase the handset, priced at $199 to $299, in their Apple mini-shops. Stand-alone Best Buy Mobile shops, which have opened in about 15 U.S. cities, will also sell the device, which requires a two-year contract with carrier AT&T. The addition of the iPhone is a coup for Best Buy, which is counting on the introduction of the phone to …

Jack in the Box is touting its new Jack's Hearty Breakfast Bowl --which features scrambled eggs, hash-brown sticks, white-cheddar-cheese sauce and shredded cheddar cheese -- as a portable, "Sunday-brunch-worthy meal" that can be "enjoyed on a weekday schedule." Darren Tristano, exec VP of restaurant consultant Technomic, notes that the new offering could appeal to consumers looking to trade down from casual dining chains during the recession, but says the bowls might be a tough sell to the so-called dashboard diners. "These are people [who when they are] eating with one hand, the wheel in the other hand and a …

Twenty-three-year-old adult-entertainment star Kendra Wilkinson is a Playboy cover model, television star and one of Hugh Hefner's three live-in girlfriends. To the consternation of Olive Garden's marketers -- who have spent millions crafting the franchise's family-friendly image -- she is also a rogue brand ambassador for the Italian restaurant chain. The San Diego native says she made frequent trips to the restaurant during her childhood, developing a taste for the artichoke dip and the all-you-can-eat salad and breadsticks. She calls it "my soul food." Wilkinson says that when she started praising the restaurant on television and on her very popular …

Years of being outmaneuvered by rivals have helped extinguish all but the faintest hopes of keeping Circuit City intact. Even as he sounds a more optimistic note, CEO Philip J. Schoonover is engaged in a review of options for Circuit City that include selling all or a part of the company, which operates 700 stores nationwide. This year's sharp slowdown in consumer spending has capped years of missteps by Schoonover, who was brought in from rival Best Buy to rejuvenate the company, and instead has overseen a steep decline in the retailer's fortunes. After rebuffing three suitors in the …

Li Ning's athletic-wear company isn't an official sponsor of the Olympic Games, but when the former Olympic champion ascended on a high wire to the top of the Olympic stadium Friday to ignite the caldron, it was a magical finale to the dazzling opening ceremony and a marketing coup. The company chairman's stunt helped drive up Li Ning Co.'s stock 4% on Monday and left rival firms out in the cold. Adidas, for instance, has shelled out millions of dollars to be a sponsor of the Beijing Games. Li Ning has long been one of China's leading sports brands, …

As part of an effort to restore confidence in its products, Whole Foods will inspect all shipments of meat and tighten its guidelines for suppliers following the recall of two months' worth of ground beef that potentially was contaminated with E. coli. Whole Foods sets a high bar, positioning itself as more socially conscious than its competitors. It has been a leader in retailers' green movement, recently tightening its policies on farmed seafood, for example. Its hormone-free meats and pesticide-free produce attract throngs of affluent shoppers. But those customers are often demanding. The company has been criticized for …

Procter & Gamble's new print and TV campaign for the venerable Pepto-Bismol stomach remedy revolves around a fictitious phone-hotline operator in a pink sweater vest who fields calls from people complaining of stomach aches. In one spot promoting cherry-flavored Pepto-Bismol, a woman whose friend has overindulged in foods from cherry pie to "chicken cherryaki" calls the hotline to ask if Pepto-Bismol can help. The operator reassures her with the tagline, "Yup, you're covered," as the friend sips a cherry slush. The brand that has long touted its ability to solve gastrointestinal issues from heartburn to diarrhea is losing sales amid …