Safeway is rolling its organic house brand, O Organics, and better-for-you brand, Eating Right, into competitive grocery-chains nationwide this fall. The brands will benefit from "fully integrated" marketing support, according to James White, who serves as both president of Safeway's Lucerne Foods division and as its senior vp-consumer brands. Both lines will be positioned as lifestyle brands. O Organics, which consists of about 300 items in more than 30 categories, specifically targets new mothers looking for cleaner, healthier food. White says both lines represent a "great-tasting, highest-quality, more-affordable option [than established organic brands], which allows for the mainstreaming of …

Monsanto is putting its dairy hormone business up for sale. The company and its backers have battled with consumer activists for more than a decade over whether Posilac bovine somatotropin, an artificial growth hormone that makes cows produce more milk, is harmful to human and animal health. The company says concerns raised about the product had no role in the decision to sell. The debate has taken a marked turn in the last two years as a growing number of dairy and food companies started demanding hormone-free milk, citing consumer concerns. But "that didn't play a role at all" …

While style attention has been focused on the crazy and colorful new underwear and skinny emo-boy clothes in the last decade, Under Armour underwear and athletic wear has stealthily infiltrated the closet and consciousness of the modern man's man. Well known and much loved by military personnel, sports teams, weight lifters and, more and more, those who aspire to the above, Under Armour has redefined gym-pumped machismo for a new generation. "This is more about marketing than anything else," says Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for the NPD Group. "They turned what was a niche market ... into something you …

In a move that would signal a dramatic change in the way Chrysler operates, the Detroit automaker is discussing the idea of jointly producing midsize cars with Japanese automaker Nissan. The companies agreed earlier this year to team up on pickup trucks and subcompact cars. Since then, they have been discussing an agreement under which Nissan would produce midsize sedans that Chrysler would sell in the U.S. under its own name, sources say. For decades, major automakers have taken pride in marketing their vehicles as products of their own engineering. Chrysler plans to continue developing new trucks, sport-utility vehicles …

Rhapsody music service, which offers access to over five million songs for a monthly fee, recently opened an MP3 store and began a new alliance with Verizon Wireless that puts its subscription music in front of nearly 70 million customers. Co-owned by Real Networks and MTV, Rhapsody is sallying forth against Apple's iTunes service -- which sells most songs for 99 cents apiece -- even after Yahoo Music announced it will shutter its subscription music service next month. Verizon customers who subscribe to Rhapsody (they must also have an eligible data plan) get access to the songs in the …

MillerCoors is sending Miller High Life's delivery-guy mascot to stump for the "High Life Common Sense Party" in 12 markets and on Internet sites such as Facebook and YouTube. Campaign stops that are an extension of TV ads for the brew are set for Major League Baseball and college football games. The TV spots show the driver confiscating High Life from French bistros, gourmet grocers, luxury boxes and other too-chic locations at odds with the brand's blue-collar ethic. The driver has also been making appearances at sporting events since last summer. The driver will continue to rail against all …

A pair of blue jeans that magically fit four teenage girls took precedence in the marketing of "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" when it opened in 2005. After the film's mediocre theatrical run, two of the film's unknowns -- Blake Lively and America Ferrera -- emerged as major television stars. Marketing for the new movie capitalizes on the girls' newfound fame. The sequel's poster features a close-up of the girls' four faces, largely ignoring the iconic traveling pair of pants that form the film's back story. "The jeans are still the glue of the film," says Sue Kroll, …