"Perhaps no brand hookup makes less sense to me than Ed Hardy -- a tattoo-themed street wear imprint of fashion megalomaniac Christian Audigier -- and wine," writes Dan Neil. And yet -- you guessed it - that's exactly what he found on a recent trip to Whole Foods. And guess what? Even though he's twice the age of the target demo and wouldn't be caught totally dead in the duds, he says that the wine is "really not half bad." Audigier has a licensing agreement with tattoo and graphics artist Don Ed Hardy, a Bay Area legend. Ed Hardy …

Monday was UnFry Day at most KFC restaurants, Brian Quinton reports, with the chain giving away samples from its latest menu of items that are grilled, not fried. The promotion is supported by an online and offline campaign that asks consumers to "UnThink KFC." A microsite, http://www.unthinkkfc.com/ -- "It's Time To Unthink How You get Your Grill On" -- offers both nutritional information and content centered on the new products. Visitors can play a keyboard version of a dance game or upload video of their own chicken dances. They can also see outtakes from new broadcast commercials …

Lauren Luke, a woman from Newcastle, Great Britain, who rose to YouTube fame through a series of how-to videos for applying makeup, now has a line of cosmetics in partnership with independent ad agency Anomaly and manufacturer Zorbit, Brian Morrissey reports. Anomaly has also brokered a book deal for Luke and is negotiating a broadcast TV deal. The line is available at http://www.laurenluke.co.uk/tag/cosmetics, and Anomaly is talking with retailers to get it stocked in stores. Anomaly partner Duncan Bird came across Luke's videos while researching YouTube for a client in the beauty industry. A plain-looking woman, Luke seems to …

Best Buy is using the customer feedback it collects from its customers to make simple innovations to electronic gadgetry that it is selling under a variety of private-label brand names, Miguel Bustillo and Christopher Lawton report. Sales of Best Buy private-label electronics, such as house brands Insignia and Dynex televisions, rose 40% during the fiscal year that ended Feb. 28. Popular products include a GPS with Google search capabilities, an HD radio that displays the names of songs, and digital picture frames without pricey extras such as music-players. But promotion of its own brands threatens to strain relationships …

Countrywide Home Loans signs came down and Bank of America Home Loans signs went up at the lender's 215 storefront offices in California over the weekend as the first step in the rebranding of a name that has become became "too toxic to resuscitate," as one analyst puts it. "It's the end of an era in the country, but times change," says co-founder Angelo R. Mozilo's. More recently, the company has been linked with high-risk loans, Mozilo's huge paydays and FBI investigations and has become a liability for Bank of America, which snatched it up last year as it …

Verizon and Apple are in talks about developing an iPhone for Verizon's CDMA wireless network, which is different from AT&T's GSM technology, that could hit the market next year, sources say. The "high-level" discussions started before Apple CEO Steve Jobs went on medical leave and have continued in his absence, Leslie Cauley reports. Apple would gain access to Verizon's 80 million customers, which would be a big loss for AT&T, says Roger Entner, head of telecom research for Nielsen. "Breaking the [iPhone] exclusivity with AT&T ... would send shivers into AT&T's stock and senior leadership," he says. …

Tesla and Tata, which are the opposite poles of a mobile future that could look utterly unlike what we have today, could wind up defining our choices for everyday transportation, Matthew DeBord writes. If they survive the next two years. Silicon Valley's Tesla represents green luxury -- an all-electric sedan whose first model will, after tax credits, sell for just under $50,000. India's Tata stands for semigreen basic transportation, with its Nano "People's Car" that retails for $2,000. But both companies are grappling with significant business issues, with Tesla's immediate need for operating cash more significant. Whoever survives, …