The headline on Sal Ruibal's piece about the shaggy-haired, 23-year-old, garage-band guitarist and U.S. Olympic team snowboarder named Shaun White ignores all those carefree youthful attributes for one more befitting, oh, let's say the wizened Steve Jobs: "Marketing Mogul." White is no less than a "global phenomenon with all the credentials of a 21st-century celebrity" whose current sponsors and advertising partners include American Express, Burton Snowboards, Oakley eyewear, Tony Hawk's Birdhouse skateboards, HP computers, Target and Red Bull energy drinks. For good reason. The defending Olympic halfpipe gold medalist is "the one action sports athlete that we can …

Toyota's decision to halt production for one week starting Monday on assembly lines at six plants in North America while it works on fixing a flaw with accelerator pedals in eight models has experts debating the impact on the company's image, as well as whether Detroit automakers can make hay of the situation. Gary Dilts, svp of global automotive operations for J.D. Power and Associates, points out that Toyota has some of the most devoted owners among automakers and feels competitors would have a hard time converting them. "It's not like any other car company that …

Todd Wasserman tells us that Miller High Life, which has been nipping at the heels of Anheuser-Busch for decades, will spotlight small business in its latest Super Bowl counterprogramming. A spot running on some local affiliates will feature Del's Barber Shop in Escondido, Calif., Tim's Baseball Card Shop in Chicago, Loretta's Authentic Pralines in New Orleans, and Bizarre Guitar & Drum in Phoenix. The Del's spot will feature comedian Windell D. Middlebrooks, who appeared in one-second ads for the brand last year. In a teaser ad, he disparages "those big muckety-muck" beer brands that "prance out …

A Super Bowl without Clydesdales? Could be, Suzanne Vranica reports. Anheuser-Busch InBev is going to aim for the funny bone with its five minutes of commercial time this year, and will also replace its Bud Light "Drinkability" tagline with "Here we go" for the big game. The line is meant to show that Bud Light is a "catalyst for a good time," says Keith Levy, A-B's vp for marketing. In one spot, astronomers party as an asteroid approaches; in another, a man has built a house out of Bud Light cans. Levy says the Drinkability ad campaign …

Strange things happen when a Coke machine is placed in a college cafeteria. On the other hand, Barbara Lippert writes in Adweek that "the merriment is as forced as the caricature" in "Snowball," the first of two 60-second Coca-Cola spots created by Wieden + Kennedy for the Winter Olympics.

How much longer can Abercrombie & Fitch pretend the recession isn't happening? asks Deborah Dunham. It has seen 21 months of declining sales in stores that have been open more than a year, topped off by a 19% drop in December. Dunham says that A&F was able to get away with its "aspirational" prices -- men's jeans at $98; hooded sweatshirt for $80 -- before the economic turndown. But it's not only about the high prices; teens have changed, too. Today's youth are all about individuality, she says, creating their own styles by mixing and matching from different …

The Atkins Diet -- go ahead, feast on bacon, eggs, cheese , etc. but go light on bread, pasta and other carbs -- first took off when Dr. Robert C. Atkins published his Diet Revolution in 1972. By the late-1990s, Laurie Burkitt reports, the doc was selling more than 100 products, from sugar-free maple syrup to protein powder, from a Web site and store. Then, in 2003, he died. Goldman Sachs and a private-equity firm bought a majority stake in late 2003 and expanded the product line to 200 low-carb bars and snacks. Atkins Nutritionals filed for Chapter …

Roger David, who has a history of building and launching successful brands, took over as president of Buffalo Wings & Rings four months ago. The casual dining chain has expanded from six regional restaurants to 55 in 14 states since 2005 but the partners decided they needed to fine-tune operations to increase sales and expand further, Laura Baverman reports. The company has begun a brand overhaul, analyzing everything from franchisee selection to the number of TVs to the technology used for order taking, she writes. "We're taking a fresh, innovative, 'anything is possible' mind-set to the brand," says …