"What should really get people's alarm bells ringing is the fact that nobody seems to know, or is willing to say publicly, how the carcinogenic metal cadmium got into paint used to depict Shrek, Donkey and other characters," writes consumer columnist David Lazarus.

USA Today, Brand Republic Nike's "Write the Future" soccer ad that launched May 20 on Facebook has had 14 million YouTube views and has propelled the brand to the early lead in online World Cup buzz, Bruce Horovitz reports. Meltwater Buzz, which measured buzz generated from May 24 through yesterday for 11 top World Cup sponsors, partners and other key marketers, says Nike scored 26% vs. 20% for Adidas and 11% for Sony. The latter two are FIFA partners. Brand Republic, meanwhile, reports that Kit Kat is "hijacking" consumer interest at the World Cup "despite not …

Sears quietly expanded its year-old MyGofer online shopping portal in Manhattan and the Hamptons over the Memorial Day weekend to include home delivery service of groceries, as well as prescriptions, electronics and other goods, Sandra M. Jones reports. It will roll out to Chicago and other markets this summer, spokesman Tom Aiello says. Sears launched MyGofer.com last year. It allows shoppers to search tens of thousands of goods online, place orders from a computer or iPhone and pick them up at a Kmart store. Its plans to start home-delivery service appeared as part of a video highlighting its …

As part of Brandweek's annual "Superbrands" reports, Elaine Wong takes a look at Kellogg's successful reformulation of the venerable Special K brand last year. Sales of the No. 4 brand in the $6.6 billion ready-to-eat cereal category rose 12.9% to $249.9 (excluding Walmart stores), according to SymphonyIRI, after fiber was added to the recipe. The company used social media to engage weight-conscious consumers, Wong reports, and this year the brand kicked off a "Be victorious" campaign on morning TV news programs that prompted people to visit a Web site built in partnership with MSN.com. Once …

Natasha Singer reports that Congressional investigators may issue subpoenas to Johnson & Johnson executives to compel their cooperation as it looks into the recall of children's Tylenol and other pediatric medicines in hearings before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "We are not getting the kind of information and cooperation from Johnson that I would like," Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.), the chairman of committee, tells Singer. He says, for example, that the company told members of his staff that the recall involved six million bottles of children's medicines but informed the FDA that the figure was …