Flagship brand Gatorade Thirst Quencher now sports a large letter G -- representing "the heart, hustle and soul of athleticism" -- next to the brand's iconic bolt, and line extensions have been renamed to "convey the attitude of a tough-love coach or personal trainer," according to a company press release. Gatorade Fierce is now Bring It; X-Factor is Be Tough; Gatorade AM is Shine On and Rain is now No Excuses, Todd Wasserman and Kenneth Hein report. We have checked the calendar; that's Jan. 1 just ahead of us, not April 1. In fact, …

Two Lincolns -- the MKT luxury crossover and the MKS large sedan -- will offer a self-parking feature as an option in mid-2009. Ford expects the system to get a warmer reception than the "park assist" program on the $63,675 Lexus LS 460L luxury sedan received a couple of years ago. It quickly became the butt of jokes because of its slow and inconsistent operation, Mark Phelan reports. Ford is using ultrasonic sensors rather than cameras to provide its system with more precise data for parking, making it faster and more accurate, says Ali Jammoul, Ford's chief engineer for …

AT&T is selling $99 iPhone handsets -- albeit refurbished and for a limited time, Rita Chang reports. Speculation was rampant that Wal-Mart would sell an exclusive 4GB iPhone for $99 and offer a bargain rate for the entry-level 8-gigabyte device. It is charging $197 for the 8-gigabyte model, however -- only $2 less than what the carrier offers for a new phone. And the 4-gig device is, for the nonce, vaporhardware. Refurbished 16GB iPhones are being sold for $199 by AT&T. As with the 8GB model, a two-year contract is required. Refurbished is defined as "previously owned devices …

NextCen was looking for $25 million for the Bill Blass brand but has settled for $10 million in a fire sale to Peacock International Holdings LLC, a men's dress shirt and neckwear company. "Like every pair of Manolos in this town, they had to mark it waaaaay down to get it out the door," Amy Odell reports in New York's fashion-industry blog, "The Cut." NexCen shut down the Bill Blass ready-to-wear line on Dec. 19, two months after Peter Som left as head designer, reportedly over frustrations that NexCen didn't know how to run a designer brand. …

Affinnova, which is based in Waltham, Mass., has helped dozens of companies, including Staples, Procter & Gamble, Capital One and Wal-Mart, to reevaluate their products by using geeky evolution simulation software to redesign products or packaging. Jesse Scanlon writes: "Affinnova's premise is that, over time, consumer markets evolve much like the natural world: Strong products survive while weak ones die out. Its software, a 'genetic algorithm' called IDDEA, essentially simulates evolution, creating generation after generation of possible products or packaging until the strongest possible design emerges." (One commenter to the story points out, however, that it's creatures that adapt, …

Targeting millennials (b. 1980-1990) specifically, Pepsi will roll out its first campaign from TBWACD this week with eight billboards in Times Square that bubble over with optimism, as well as a TV spot that "uses Pepsi's redesigned logo to spell out upbeat words," Holly M. Sanders reports in a story billed as a Post "EXCLUSIVE." "It's a complete relaunch of the brand," Ralph Santana, Pepsi's vp of colas, tells Sanders. "We're trying to get out of the old model of marketing." Pepsi also is incorporating text messaging with interactive billboards, and will partner with MTV …

A few auto brands managed to turn a profit last year, though not necessarily by selling more cars, John Reed and Daniel Schäfer report. Porsche's profits exceeded its revenues, for example, but it earned the bulk of its money from trading shares in Volkswagen. The fact that VW is now almost under Porsche's control bodes well for the future, analysts say, as it can pool R&D and regulatory costs of its higher-CO2 line-up with those of a mass-market carmaker. Audi, VW's premium brand, reported a 0.4% rise in its global sales in November "on the strength of a youthful, …

Billionaire Sam Wyly seems to have lived one of those entrepreneurial lives that can only be hatched in Texas, intersecting along the way with the likes of Jack Ruby, H. Ross Perot and Bunker Hunt. Now he's got a memoir out -- "1,000 Dollars & an Idea" (Newmarket Press, $24.95) -- about his bodacious ("a blend of bold and audacious that is properly uttered only with a Southern drawl") rise to the top by building such businesses as University Computing, Bonanza Steakhouse and the Michael's chain of craft stores. Reviewer James Freeman, assistant editor of the Journal's editorial page, …