The new Ford Fusion hybrid will get 41 mpg in the city and 36 mpg on the highway, according to Environmental Protection Agency, giving the automaker a "marketing coup" when the midsize sedan rolls out in the spring. It will be the second-most fuel-efficient vehicle on the road, behind the smaller Toyota Prius and ahead of the smaller Honda Civic hybrid, writes Sharon Silke Carty. "Our overall strategy is to ensure that with every new vehicle we introduce, we're either the best or among the best in fuel economy," says Derrick Kuzak, vp of global product development for Ford. "Clearly, …

Toyota hasn't said what impact its first-ever operating loss will have on marketing spend next year, Jean Halliday reports. Wes Brown, vp of industry consultant Iceology, expects cuts but says they won't be as drastic as those expected from Detroit automakers. Brown says Toyota will be among the first automakers to increase ad spending when Americans start buying new vehicles again. Toyota Motor Sales USA cut spending in U.S. measured media by $55 million to $766 million in the first nine months of 2008 against the same period a year ago, according to TNS Media.

Is it just you, or is it really getting more crowded in airplane cabins these days? Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows that you're not alone in feeling the squeeze, Nathan Hurst reports. The load factor -- or number of filled seats -- reached more than 84% this summer, typically the busiest time for airlines. For the airlines, increasing the number of passengers on board each flight is a simple matter of balance-sheet survival. But the process of packing fliers into what some already think of as "flying sardine cans" also breeds horror stories of personal space infringement, carry-on storage …

New laws enacted to ensure the safety of children's toys and clothing could put smaller manufacturers out of business because of the costs involved. Ironically, many of the businesses affected by the law were created to make better, safer toys than those available at chain retailers such as Wal-Mart, says Dan Marshall, who owns a toy store in St. Paul, Minn., and founded the Handmade Toy Alliance. The testing is required under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which was passed in response to last year's massive recalls of toys containing lead and other dangerous substances.

Bernard Madoff attained fame and fortune with his connections, ingenious marketing and a carefully cultivated image, report Robert Frank and Tom Lauricella, aided by five other contributors to a telling Journal profile based on interviews with dozens of friends, investors, and former colleagues. Madoff's early competitive advantage was based on technology through which traders at other firms could electronically buy and sell at the best prices available on Nasdaq. As time went on, however, his allure seemed to be partly based on his exclusivity. (Although it was no doubt mostly based on his "remarkably consistent returns of 10% …

Pedigree dog food, which is owned by Mars, will be promoting the cause of pet adoption in its first-ever Super Bowl spot this February. It's planning to use a humorous twist for the spot, like it did in a newspaper ad asking President-elect Obama to adopt a dog, Suzanne Vranica reports. The spot will show what life would be like without dogs. A string of crazy pets is expected to appear, including an ostrich giving a mailman a hard time. Pedigree says it spends about half its marketing budget on the adoption message. "More dogs are going to end …

Wow, it's getting hostile out there. Marketers not only have to contend with the barbs of scribes, now the hoi polloi is armed with pellet guns -- and they aren't afraid to use them. A blimp advertising the Big Box Storage Centre in Sussex, England, was shot at by citizens who claimed it blocked their view, the BBC reports. The company says it received a number of complaints that the blimp was spoiling people's views (and one from a woman who said it scared her dog), but director Mike Rayner also says that many customers had used …