Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma and other books about the food industry and a featured critic in the documentary "Food Inc.," has a short new book out that he says is a response to some doctors who challenged him to formulate everyday rules for eating that would make it easier for Average Joes and Janes to eat better. This blog posting from Pollan contains highlights from Food Rules: An Eater's Manual, starting with No. 11: "Avoid foods you see advertised on television." According to Pollan, the best way to escape the wily marketing ploys …

When I last read about lycopene, an antioxidant predominately found in tomatoes, it was being touted as a natural way to prevent prostate cancer. Then a large-scale study came along, as they tend to do in pesky fashion, that debunked the claims. Well, lycopene has dusted itself off and now is back in Europe as the main ingredient in a pill created by L'Oreal and Nestle that's said to eliminate wrinkles. Inneov Fermete is said to preserve old skin cells while promoting the growth of new cells, Sara Zucker reports, and joins an increasingly …

Allen Adamson, managing director of the New York office of Landor Associates, writes that it's no secret that consumers will demand value and honesty from their brands and will publicly flail those that don't deliver them in social media venues. And that they'll latch onto products that are relevantly different -- which probably seals the fate of brands such as Blockbuster's retail outlets and weekly newsmagazines. But it not all doom and gloom for established brands. Adamson believes that pent-up demand will prove beneficial for behemoths that offer value, choice and superior in-store experiences such as Wal-Mart, Lowe's, …

Bradford Wernle reports that Chrysler Group dealers will be displaying new signage that incorporates the Ram brand along with Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. A fifth component is Mopar parts and accessories. The brands are run as separate businesses with individual profit-and-loss responsibility. Chrysler's new Fiat-led management team made Ram a separate brand for trucks after the company emerged from bankruptcy last year. Chrysler will pick up the tab for dealers who recently upgraded their signs, according to a company spokeswoman, who adds that it will make final decisions about the look of the new logo in …

CBS has only four commercial spots left to sell for the Super Bowl broadcast on Feb. 7, which would seem to indicate that major advertisers are as in love with the biggest commercial fest of the year as always. But Pepsi's announcement last month that it would sit out the game underscores how the Internet is reshaping the marketing efforts of some of the game's perennial superstars, Meg James reports. Pepsi says it is focusing on digital media to get "deep consumer engagement" for its Pepsi Refresh Project, a multimillion-dollar grant program that encourages people to submit ideas …

During its third weekend, "Avatar" became only the fifth movie in history to pass the billion-dollar mark, the Los Angeles Times reports this morning. Andrew Hampp writes that the key ingredients in the costly gamble for 20th Century Fox were a delicate balance of patience and mass marketing. First, it resisted the temptation to release any footage from the flick until a few months before the release. "This isn't a movie you want to start being too loud about too early on," says Pamela Levine, who shares 20th Century Fox's marketing presidency with Tony …