It's one of those days when dreary metrics seem to dominate the business pages, as if American business has retreated to the foxholes of balancing spreadsheets from the frontlines of moving product. Or maybe everybody's metaphysically hung-over from the ANA convention, covered here by our bright-eyed bloggers, Nina Lentini and Karl Greenberg. The Journal reports that if General Motors and Chrysler merge, more than half of Chrysler's 66,000 employees in Michigan could lose their jobs. Thousands more from GM would also be jettisoned. Circuit City may close more than 150 stores; Yahoo …

Another sign that bottom-line metrics are in the ascendancy comes from this Brandweek story reporting that the launch campaign for the Ford F-150 that begins next month may be the last "big-bang" automotive campaign we'll see for a while. "The days of spending millions to launch every vehicle has seen its day," says Art Spinella, president at CNW Marketing. The marketing campaign for Kia's Rondo is presented as model of what's happening. It was trickled out to dealers in the fall of 2006 in relative silence as it prepared for a full-on launch in February 2007. There was …

In a tiny story with potentially massive implications, Jonathan Birchall reports that Procter & Gamble is "supporting" a Web site devoted exclusively to its brands. "In an indication of the sensitivities involved, the site is being operated by a third party, which owns the inventory," he writes. The Web site -- theEssentials.com -- brings P&G into direct brand competition with its retailers. Birchall also writes that Wal-Mart, P&G's largest customer, is hiring a strategy executive whose tasks include assessing the potential effect of direct-to-consumer sales by its own suppliers.

This story, which is about the labels on Coors Light bottles changing from white to blue when the beer reaches 39 degrees Fahrenheit, totally lost me at the top of the second paragraph with the following phrase: "The iconic beer, long known as the Silver Bullet ..." Coors Light is iconic? Is that because it's 30 years old now? Or because it's the No. 3 brand in the domestic light category? Or is it because Coors Light press releases throw the "i" word around in describing its jejune mock press conferences with washed-up coaches?

Theresa Howard tells us the newest James Bond on the silver and digital screen, Daniel Craig, has attracted marketers of younger, hipper products to a franchise that has long been known for its placements and tie-ins. Among those cited for "Quantum of Solace," which opens Nov. 14 in the U.S., are Coke Zero, Swatch and Avon's Bond Girl 007 Fragrance. We'll take at face value the words of Georg Leon, Sony's executive vp, consumer marketing, who says: "What we are finding now is that he not only crosses demographics, men and women, young and old, he has helped …

No surprise that they sound like the hondlers of yore.

Ad Age reports that Beverage Daily reports that the lead agency on new CMO Dave Burwick's push to restore the sparkle to Pepsi's soft-drink marketing is not long-time agency BBDO but its Omnicom sibling, Arnell. Arnell, which was named to the SoBe business in January, is reportedly working on the redesign of many of the brands' packaging graphics, as well as a redesign of the Pepsi globe logo. Agency principal Peter Arnell directed calls for comment to PepsiCo. A PepsiCo spokeswoman said more information on the rebranding will be forthcoming. Ad Age writes that "clearly it's a blow …

When we last left the report of merger talks between General Motors and Chrysler, it seemed that the naysayers -- mostly analysts on the sidelines -- had the upper hand. In short, brands overlap. But this morning brings news that the principals involved don't think it's such a bad idea after all and they're furiously talking -- not that a potential deal is being driven by any motive other than financial desperation. GM needs cash and Chrysler has it. The headline on the print edition of the Times is "GM Teeters Toward Merger." Indeed, in a commentary about any …