Navistar International has underwritten the estimated $2 million budget to produce a documentary about truck drivers that is scheduled to make its debut next week, and will spend perhaps an additional $3 million to stimulate interest in the film. The marketing campaign for "Drive and Deliver" resembles a Hollywood effort, with a red-carpet premiere, screenings, plans for charitable donations and a contest for student filmmakers. "Drive and Deliver," which runs about 45 minutes, follows three long-haul truckers as they travel around the country in the spring, making deliveries in a new long-haul truck -- the LoneStar -- that will …

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 …

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 …

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, …

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 …