A week after losing long-time client Pepsi to Omnicom sibling TBWAChiatDay, BBDO added Starbucks to it roster. The coffee chain spent nearly $60 million on domestic ads last year (not including online spending); Pepsi spent about $90 million. Starbucks parted ways with Wieden + Kennedy in September after four years. BBDO was behind the high-profile Election Day campaign that saw the chain give away a 12-ounce free cup of coffee to those who voted (or didn't but said they had). Meanwhile, Starbucks said yesterday that it "expects to face a very difficult economic …

Perhaps it is time for the Sulzbergers to think hard about taking The New York Times Co. private. With last week's announcement that the company's dividend was to be reduced 74%, observers note that going private would be a lot less expensive for the NYT now than the last few years. On the other hand, credit is also a lot more expensive. Plus, the value of the assets the company would have to sell to finance the deal is a lot lower. But the dividend cut adds new urgency to the consideration. The independence of the newspaper is …

Detroit's honchos blew whatever chance they had for public sympathy last week when it was revealed that they had flown down to the Capitol in separate corporate jets to extend their collective tin cup. Now, a plan is afoot that sounds like it was hatched by the spawn of Ivy Lee but actually was the idea of a supplier, the CEO of Dura Automotive: A cavalcade of fuel-efficient American-brand vehicles will reportedly wend their way to Washington next month when Congress is set to reconsider the automakers' request for federal bailout money. …

It appears that Pampers, in its middle age, suffered through the same existential crises that so many baby boomers have been through in recent years. What, we ask, is the meaning if it all? Thanks to meetings and research conducted by the keepers of the brand flame a while ago, the diaper got an answer that goes beyond keeping bottoms dry: "The purpose of Pampers ... is to be a partner with mothers in the physical, social and emotional development of their children," David Holthaus reports. This insight led to the creation of diapers that feel better, to …

We've been reporting on the comeback of layaway plans at retailers such as Sears and Kmart. Now, the budding save-now-indulge-later mentality is hitting the travel and lodging industry, according to Jane Engle's story. Hyatt Hotels and Resorts is marketing gift cards and check certificates through eLayaway.com, which manages installment purchases for various merchants and about 75,000 customers, that are good for hotel stays, meals and other services. And about 90% of the clients of Personal Travel, a small travel agency in Greenville, Ind., use a layaway program offered by owner Kimberly Kane. But layaway plans don't carry the …

In the wake of a spate of bankruptcies among retailers, with more feared in the near future, there has been a spate of articles recently warning consumers about using gift cards as a stocking stuffer this year. "It's getting too risky to buy cards that can be used at only one company," Forbes' Liz Moyer points out, although consumers do have some protections and advocacy groups are seeking more. Several asked the Federal Trade Commission in September to require retailers to put money from card sales in a separate trust fund that would be used for redemptions in the event …

Jack Neff's article suggests that Johnson and Johnson may have overreacted to a "flash-flood" of negative tweets and mommy blog comments about its Motrin ad that suggested that baby carriers were fashion statements and a general pain in the back. "Most online buzz about Motrin-gate was either positive or neutral in tone toward J&J and the ads, according to analyses by Tom Martin, president of Zehnder Communications, New Orleans, and Lexalytics," Neff writes. Martin suggests that J&J should have kept the ad in place on its Web site, apologized to those who were offended, and used the …