The "Wizard of Oz" is a running theme in Mike Schaffner's blog about Steve Jobs' introduction of the iPad last week, which he finds underwhelming. Is there anything behind the curtain of Apple's well-honed ability to create marketing hysteria? As for the product itself, in the words of Dewey Bunnel's "Tin Man," "Apple may find that 'Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man that he didn't, didn't already have'." Which means, in a roundabout way, that Apple needs to return to "true marketing and product development rather than hype and pandering to a cult," according to …

Frappes, the second wave of McDonald's big beverage offensive that's primarily targeted at Starbucks, are now available in about 25% of the chain's outlets in the Chicago area and 33% of McDonald's its 14,000 U.S. locations, Mike Hughlett reports. The sweet, icy drinks are part of McDonald's "combined beverage" initiative, its biggest new product foray in decades. They come in mocha and caramel flavors. Next up in the offensive are smoothies, which are already in some test markets. Both drinks are expected to be available nationally by the middle of the year, says spokeswoman Danya Proud.

Columnist David Lazarus all but writes an obituary for the Consumer Financial Protection Agency once championed by President Obama but now seemingly a long shot as the administration focuses on "job, jobs, jobs." But what's really killing CFPA, he writes, is a concerted and ferocious campaign by the banking industry to undermine it. Republican pollster Frank Luntz last month sent clients a memo titled "The Language of Financial Reform" that offers talking points for torpedoing the agency. It plays on people's distrust of politicians and government, Lazarus writes, and advises agency critics to utter such phases as "the …

Consumers drank "value" brands of bourbon, vodka and tequila at the expense of higher-end booze last year, according to Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) data, William Spain reports. Overall sales were essentially flat at $18.7 billion, but a 1.4% volume increase enabled the category to gain market share against rivals such as wine and beer. Spirits market share is now 30.2%, up from 27.4% a decade ago. Irish whiskey grew the fastest in 2009 with volume growth of just over 10%; Tequila was next with a 5.2% upswing. In every category, with the exception of …

Writing in her "Slash Marketing" blog, Julie Roehm mulls over the news that Chevrolet is ditching the "An American Revolution" tagline it introduced in 2003 on Dick Clark's "Rockin' New Year's Eve" program and subsequently built a campaign around. (Instead it will just use its brand names as the tagline.) Although she was a competitor at DaimlerChrysler at the time, Roehm thought the first ad -- featuring Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" -- was very good for several reasons. "The music was classic rock, there was a build-up of anticipation to know what was under the covers, and the tagline …

Richard Dickson, 41, who led the team responsible for returning Barbie to the spotlight by creating a line of six new Fashionista dolls clad in stylish clothes, is leaving Mattel to join Jones Apparel Group as president and CEO of its branded businesses, Rachel Dodes and Ann Zimmerman report. Wesley Card, 62, who is relinquishing the president title, says he intends to remain as CEO of the company for years to come. Dickson will report to him. Before he got into dolls, Dickson spent a decade at Bloomingdale's where, he says, he was drawn to Jones' portfolio of …

Ford is not only making hay out of its ability to stay out of bankruptcy court last year, it's also helping its local dealers reap the benefits by coaching them on how to spread the message, Jamie LaReau reports. "We obviously realized our dealers are the face of Ford Motor Company," says John Felice, general marketing manager of Ford division. "If you can organize them to tell Ford's story, it can be very empowering." TV and radio spots typically feature the dealers' personal histories; talk about their pride in selling the company's brands, and praise the …