Customers found JetBlue's $599 "All You Can Jet" promotion so irresistible that the carrier had to pull the plug on the offer yesterday, a couple of days before it was scheduled to end. The deal offered travelers all the flights they could take among the airline's 56 cities between Sept. 8 and Oct. 8. As noteworthy as the deal itself was the publicity it stirred, writes Ben Mutzabaugh, getting play from everybody from NBC's "Today Show" to Perez Hilton. TV stations, newspapers, Web sites and blogs were still running with the story a week after it was announced. "I'm …

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) has indicated that he is running out of patience with the practice of doctors at some of the nation's top medical schools attaching their names to scientific papers that have been drafted by ghostwriters working for pharmaceutical companies, Natasha Singer reports. In a letter last week, he asked the National Institutes of Health to crack down on the practice.

Shareholders overwhelmingly approved the $3.1-billion merger of Pulte and Centex on Tuesday, creating the nation's largest homebuilder, Greta Guest reports. The new Pulte Homes Inc. had a combined $11.6 billion in sales last year and is "now homebuilding's 800-pound gorilla," according to Morningstar analyst Eric Landry. Pulte also will be the country's first multi-branded builder, Landry says. It will use the Centex name for its first-time homebuyer market, the Pulte name will brand the move-up developments, and Del Webb continues as the active adult brand. "We are taking the best of Centex and the best of Pulte," says …

Target executives say it is finally gaining traction in its fight to convince consumers that it's just as cheap as rival Wal-Mart, Natalie Zmuda reports. Part of that strategy is a "low-price promise" that went nationwide July 12. "We think this will be a terrific credibility builder and marketing umbrella to reinforce that we have strong values both every day and on sale," says Gregg Steinhafel, president-CEO of the low-price program, which it is building store by store. Marketing spending this fall, as a percent of sales, will be up compared with a year ago, Target executives say. …

Dannon is launching a "Dannonomics" loyalty program that rewards shoppers based on how much yogurt they purchase, Elaine Wong reports. The more you spend, the more you save in the future: Fifteen dollars worth of purchases nets three $1-off coupons; $20 gets $6. The promotion includes Groupe Danone's functional brands such as Activia, DanActive, Danimals, Light & Fit and Dan-o-nino, as well as Dannon itself. Shoppers must submit receipts through Oct. 31 by Nov. 16. Wong points out that the effort is somewhat reminiscent of Kraft Foods' August 2008 "DiGiornomics" pizza initiative except that it was "tapping into …

You've got to love the lede on Ylan Q. Mui's piece about the reaction of a flurry of Whole Foods shoppers to CEO John Mackey's op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal last week: "Whole Foods aficionados who assumed the company's management was as crunchy as the brand are feeling betrayed." Mui concludes her piece by retweeting a self-confessed WF addict who says it was "only a matter of time before i'd have to reconcile my politics w/my addiction to #wholefoods. i have to get my puffins elsewhere." In between lies the sort of …

Hardee's and Carl's Jr. restaurants, which are both owned by CKE Restaurants, is going to offer mail-in refunds to customers who have the temerity, or time on their hands, to assert that McDonald's new Angus burger ($3.99) is better than Carl's Jr. Six Dollar Angus Burger (which actually costs $3.99) or Hardee's Angus Thickburger ($3.49), Julie Jargon reports. Carl's Jr. is also introducing the Big Carl burger today, which will compete directly with the Big Mac. One television commercial mocks the Big Mac jingle with a voiceover that says, "We've got a jingle, too. Double the meat. Double …