A Toyota Motor Sales USA spokesman concedes that a press release issued by Toyota Motor's Tokyo headquarters last week is causing a "great deal of confusion" among agencies here but says "reports that all agencies will be fired and the all the work brought in-house are totally off base." Mike Michels goes on to describe the creation of two marketing companies as "an internal reorganization of the existing global marketing organization." The Toyota announcement on July 28 that it was setting up one company to handle marketing within Japan and another company to "carry out and assist global marketing" …

We've seen economic cycles compared to the ebb and flow of the tides before, but Ellen Byron this morning takes us from the general to the specific. To wit: the mere presence of Tide Basic on the shelves of our supermarkets "is one of the most telling signs to date of how the sour U.S. economy is forcing mass marketers to shift course." Basic is about four-fifths of the cost of the Tides that are more robust in their cleansing attributes, and represents a significant shift from the way business is usually done at Procter & Gamble. Rather than create …

PepsiCo finally came to terms with its two largest North American bottlers yesterday to the tune of $7.8 billion, Natalie Zmuda reports. The deal will help Pepsi get its products to market faster, allow it to nurture niche brands, and to bundle offers with the food division, she writes. PepsiCO chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi, who has been championing the deal, says that it will allow for more diversification into the health and wellness area. Non-carbonated drinks now account for 55% of the company's portfolio of "liquid-refreshment beverages." "It allows them to be more nimble and move their products …

Whole Foods Market is expanding its organic food offerings and will launch a campaign next year that's focused on healthy eating, Brian Gaar reports. CEO John Mackey disclosed the plans as he reported a 2% increase in sales in its fiscal third quarter, although sales at stores open at least a year slipped by 2.5%. "We believe continuing to raise the bar in areas that matter to our customers will reinforce our leadership position in natural and organic foods, resulting in greater customer loyalty for many years to come," Mackey said. Brand Republic's Jacquie …

Don't call it fast food, just quick and casual, Jenn Abelson reports, with half the wait in about one-third of the usual space.

The level of hidden industry influence on medical literature is broader than previously known, according to papers uncovered by lawyers suing Wyeth over its role in initiating and paying for articles about its hormone drugs Premarin and Prempro, Natasha Singer reports.

Sony yesterday unveiled its Reader Pocket Edition, a small electronic book that has enough internal memory to hold about 350 books, comes in three colors -- blue, rose and silver -- and has a 5-inch display that shows dark gray text on a lighter gray background, Alex Pham reports. It will cost less than $200. Sony will also drop the price of bestselling and new-release titles to $9.99 from $11.99, matching the price of Amazon.com for digital editions readable on its Kindle devices. Many analysts expect sales of electronic book readers to surge as other companies jump into …

Franchisees are pushing back against risqué ads produced for Burger King and Hardee's, Theresa Howard reports. As Ron Paul, president of restaurant and consulting firm Technomic points out: "This is hardly the time you want to alienate any potential customer." Recent ads for Hardee's feature a "marketing research" person who asks people to name a new breakfast product, Biscuit Holes. In one of them, the researcher asks people whether they prefer Product A or Product B, and people answer "A Hole" or "B Hole." Hardee's biggest franchisee, Boddie-Noell Enterprises, said it won't run the execution in its markets and …