When reporter Diana T. Kurylko saw singer Katy Perry, who had been perched upon five-inch pink stilettos, jump onto the hood of a Jetta during the rollout of VW's "new beginning" in Times Square the other day, she gasped. As it turns out, Perry had slipped out of the spikes. A VW executive later told Kurylko that he had had the same reaction. "I can't imagine what those things would have done to the hood," he said.

A Food and Drug Administration staff report has recommended against approving a drug that German drug manufacturer Boehringer Ingelheim claims will restore women's libido, Duff Wilson reports. The FDA says that the drug maker failed to make its case and that possible side effects such as dizziness, nausea and fatigue outweigh the drug's potential benefits. An FDA advisory panel of experts will vote tomorrow on whether to recommend that the agency approve the pill. The drug has stirred a debate over what constitutes a normal range of sexual desire among women. "This is a real disease," …

A fake press release went out over PR Newswire at midnight EDT yesterday that stated that President Barack Obama had ordered an investigation into General Mills' supply chain. The information is "completely false" and the company has no supply chain issues, according to spokeswoman Kirstie Foster. Anjali Cordiero reports that the company, which usually uses Business Wire to disseminate its information, alerted PR Newswire soon after the bogus release ran, and the service quickly instructed journalists and readers to "disregard" the document. General Mills is investigating the matter and says that law enforcement is involved. PR Newswire …

Two weeks after Goldman Sachs was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission in April, chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein appeared on "Charlie Rose" to make a case that the brokerage was a 21st-century version of the George Bailey character in "It's a Wonderful Life." It was part of a "multi-stop charm offensive designed to blunt SEC allegations," Richard Morgan writes. But likening Goldman's plight to that of James Stewart's well-meaning, good natured, small town hero is "disingenuous at best, duplicitous at worst," Morgan writes. "It's also a demonstration of the enormous disconnect between Wall Street …

For the first time in more than 10 years, Tide is reformulating nearly all of its liquid detergents with a secret sauce of three new ingredients that removes and prevents stains better, according to CFO Jon Moeller. Tide ActiLift ships next month. There will also be "formula upgrades" to Tide's and Gain's powered detergents, Dave Holthaus reports, and the packages will be a third smaller than they are now starting next February. As far as the price war going on in Wal-Mart stores -- with a 50-ounce bottle of Tide selling at about 40% less that its …

South African police yesterday arrested two women they charged with organizing an ambush-marketing stunt for family-owned Dutch brewer Bavaria at a World Cup match between Holland and Denmark earlier this week. During the match, 36 women dressed in skimpy orange dresses -- the color of the brewery -- were ejected from Soccer City stadium. Budweiser is the official beer for the tournament and FIFA, world soccer's governing body, fiercely protects its sponsors from brands that are not its partners, Owen Gibson reports. Ambush marketing is a criminal offense in South Africa and the women face three charges, according …

American Airlines is offering a new "Your Choice" package that, rather than penalize passengers for "amenities" such as checking their baggage, allows them to purchase perks such as boarding the plane earlier than the hoi polloi (but after "premium-status" passengers), or pay only $75 instead of $150 to change their travel plans, Charisse Jones reports. "It's a way for us to present to customers a way they can personalize their flight experience," says Dan Garton, American's evp of marketing. "These are all privileges or opportunities that people didn't have before." Depending on the length of the …

Sunoco is very pleased with a program it launched 2005 in which people affix a Sunoco/NASCAR decal to their cars in the hope that a "spotter" will see it and give the driver a $10 gift card and a chance at winning 5,000 free gallons of gas, Patricia Odell reports. This year, 4,000 stations are participating, with a spotter for at least 30 minutes at every station. About 12,000 instant-win $10 cards will be given out. One benefit of the program is the 70,000 email addresses that Sunoco has collected through a survey distributed by the spotters, says …