Activist shareholders and analysts, weary of market-share declines and "marketing gimmicks" like food giveaways that have failed to attract consistent customers, have called for replacing Denny's CEO Nelson Marchioli and two other longtime members of the board, Paul Ziobro reports. "It really is a zombie brand that just sort of moves along, doesn't grow, doesn't go away," says Darren Tristano, evp at industry consultancy Technomic.

Nicolas Maurer, vp-marketing for Beiersdorf, chats with Barry Janoff about how Nivea is using AVP beach volleyball, the World Cup and the Summer Olympics to claim more face time with men (and women).

The Bittersweet Partnership, a Molson Coors business unit set up to increase the number of female beer drinkers, will be soliciting potential names for a clear beer in a bottle that it intends to launch this August, at least in Great Britain, Gemma Charles reports. Whatever the name, the product's calorie content will be a key feature of the packaging to overcome female drinkers' perception that beer is fattening. Molson evidently tested a clear product last year that was flavored with green tea and dragon fruit, Charles writes. And an effort in the U.S. in the …

Toyota is temporarily pulling the Lexus GX 460 SUV from dealership showrooms in the wake of a Consumer Reports article that says that there is a potential rollover risk. The magazine put the vehicle on its "do not buy" list, Jerry Hirsch reports. "We are taking the situation with the GX 460 very seriously and are determined to identify and correct the issue Consumer Reports identified," says Lexus group vp Mark Templin. "At this time we have asked our dealers to temporarily suspend sales." Current owners can take their cars back to …

Levi Strauss is using its strong cash position to burnish its image and grab market share, Rachel Dodes reports. A year after the 157-year-old company created a "super-premium" division based in Amsterdam called "Levi's XX," it has consolidated several premium sub-brands under just two names: Made & Crafted, a premium denim line featuring better fabrics and fit, and Levi's Vintage Clothing, offering reproductions of items from the brand's historical archives. To improve its street cred, it also has opened lavish boutiques like an 8,500-square-foot boutique on London's Regent Street and hired executives from competing designer brands such as …

Kate Andersen Brower writes that Michelle Obama's lobbying of companies to make products healthier, labels easier to read and to limit the marketing of unhealthy foods to kids is paying off. PepsiCo has pledged to stop selling full-sugar soft drinks in schools by 2012; Kraft says it will reduce sodium in its products; several drink companies are posting calorie content on their front labels. "She puts the spotlight on the issue like few others can," says David Kessler, who was Food and Drug Administration commissioner from 1990 to 1997. And Rhonda Jordan, Kraft's president of health and wellness, …

Cell phone users who switch to Walmart's Straight Talk brand "can add up to over $850 in savings a year," according to two new ads for the retailer from the Martin Agency. The savings estimate comes from a Nielsen Mobile survey of average cell phone bills, according to fine print in the ads. "It's the freedom of no contract at a great price," says Melissa O'Brien, spokeswoman for the entertainment division for Walmart U.S. The Straight Talk name, logo and packaging were hatched quietly last year by the indie boutique agency Droga5, Rupal Parekh reports. The exclusive service is …

Anheuser-Busch says this it's about off-setting some of the $8,000-per-day cost of the work horses, Todd Frankel writes, but he suggests that local distributors could chip in for cash-strapped groups like the Wounded Warriors, who have already committed to bringing in the team.

Three new anti-obesity medications that have been submitted for approval to the Food and Drug Administration by small drug developers could hit the market in coming months, Thomas Gryta reports, although agency approval is not assured. Just two anti-obesity drugs currently are approved for long-term treatment, and both can cause undesirable side effects in many patients. These face similar hurdles. All three drugs dampen appetite by affecting the patient's central nervous system, according to Charles Billington, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota and medical director of the obesity program at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. …