It's not the upshot of healthy-minded Icelanders driving out the fast-food behemoth but rather a result of the country's banking crises, which created a "very challenging economic climate" to go along with the physical one.

Kevin Depew has an amusing video essay on how Pabst Blue Ribbon manipulated sufficient numbers of hipsters into thinking that that it was anti-establishment. Sales skyrocketed as a result, and PBR was able to raise prices higher than some "establishment" rivals. Depew then samples three other possible pretenders to the throne of Ironic Brewski before deciding that swill is swill and PBR had a good thing going.

Unable to overcome a thicket of regulations, Amazon is throwing in the sommelier's bar towel on its attempt to sell wine online, Mike Ullmann reports. It originally intended to start selling wine in October 2008, and reportedly was still talking to winemakers as late as this summer. "People have no idea how complex this is, dealing with 50 different (state) governments," says John Fredrikson, owner and publisher of the Gomberg-Fredrikson Report. "You wonder if a company like Amazon, which is well organized to sell just about anything, can't pull it off." Winemakers are disappointed by the …

My son phoned yesterday to ask me to get a referee shirt hanging in his closet up to him at college as he wanted to wear it on Halloween. As I walked to the post office, I wondered when, exactly, Halloween had stopped becoming something that you stopped doing in sixth grade and had become bigger than, oh, say Valentine's Day? Well, Roger Fillion addresses that question this morning, saying that a shift that began sometime in the late Seventies has accelerated in the past five to 10 years. This is all to the benefit of nightclubs, restaurants, bars …

Microsoft is pulling out of a deal to sponsor a prime time special by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane after viewing an early version of the show and seeing that the content will include "riffs on deaf people, the Holocaust, feminine hygiene and incest," Michael Learmonth reports. Those topics were deemed to not be a fit with the Windows brand, according to a Microsoft spokesperson. The turnabout was sudden. Just a few days ago, Microsoft marketing executive Gayle Troberman told Ad Age: "You'll see us deeply integrated into the content." "Family Guy" …

Toys R Us will announce today that it is adding upscale FAO Schwarz toy boutiques to its 585 stores beginning Nov. 1, Kayce T. Ataiyero reports. They will sell lower-priced offerings, ranging from a $2.99 yo-yo to a piano mat like the one Tom Hanks danced on in the movie "Big" for $64.99. Toys R Us is no doubt strengthening its image with the alliance, says Kloster Trading Corp. toy analyst Lutz Muller. "FAO Schwarz is something [consumers] have heard of but not seen in their stores. For the first time, they can go in and see it." …

Chrysler will unveil a product lineup in a six-hour presentation to analysts and media on Nov. 4 that will eliminate a number of well-known Chrysler nameplates over the next couple of years and bring in several Fiat models to the U.S. market, Kate Linebaugh and Neal E. Boudette report. Fiat's sporty Alfa Romeo will return in 2012, according to people briefed on the plans, and the 500 will also be part of the mix. Chrysler will phase out many current models, including a number of Dodges, such as the Grand Caravan minivan, and several Jeeps. Fiat and …

The third season of strong campaign from Jordan Brand will lead up to 25th anniversary marketing for Air Jordan.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen will kick off a major push for a new exclusive junior collection for JC Penney called Olsenboye today with a truck cruising around New York selling merchandise and giving out cupcakes, balloons and pins, David Moin reports. Empty racks in 50 high-profile Penney's, meanwhile, will be covered in Olsenboye shrouds. The line will be available online and in those stores on Nov. 6 for a limited time and then will formally launch in Penney outlets in the spring, when there will be TV spots, magazine ads, direct-mail pieces, an interactive digital campaign and a …