The highly publicized product failures at BP, Toyota and Johnson & Johnson have Jack Neff wondering if companies may be putting too many of their eggs in their marketing baskets at the expense of quality control. "All that investment in marketing to build brands is for naught if it leads to recalls that sap share and destroy brand equity," he writes. Neff points out that the Big Three Transgressors Against Public Trust aren't the only ones who have had recalls this year, albeit under less media glare. Kellogg in June recalled 28 million boxes of cereal for a waxy …

S. Larson, please call B. Newman of the Wall Street Journal. He has written an amusing story about your ubiquitous signature on millions of pieces of Citibank's customer service correspondence for 20 years. But ace reporter that he is, he has been unable to track you down despite repeated calls and other tricks of the trade. As a luminary in the marketing world, surely you are among this newsletter's 32,000 faithful readers. [Jack] Lord knows, others have tried to find you over the years, as Newman details in some telling anecdotes. "Account holders display their …

I grit my teeth, pinch my nostrils and plug my eardrums as I repost this item titled "Marketers Can Learn From The Vuvuzela." It's not that Donovan Neale-May, executive director of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, doesn't realize that the bleating, droning plastic instrument of aural torture that drowned out World Cup commentators is "offensive," "invasive," "intrusive," "hostile," "horrible," and "annoying" -- to skim a few observations -- it's that it's also "viral, vocal and visceral." And, he writes, an outrageous product success story. Here's his conclusion, which might send your product engineers scurrying from their …

Andrew Martin reports in the "Prescriptions" blog that the Senate unanimously approved yesterday the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act that will provide $4.5 billion over 10 years to make school food more nutritious. The bill moves to the House, where it is expected to pass. All foods sold in schools -- whether in cafeterias or vending machines -- will need to meet new nutrition guidelines. Pizza and other favorites will still be allowed but may need to be "healthier" than present offerings. Some candies and high-sugar sodas will be banned. "The Senate bill changes the school food …

Internet and direct-mail sales by small winemakers and microbrewers have boomed in the last decade but a bill pending in the House of Representatives could put a cap on the practice and, critics say, lead to less competition and higher prices. Kim Geiger reports that, with little notice, alcoholic beverage distributors are pressing for a law that would allow states to block interstate sales of wine and beer to their residents. It would supersede a number of recent court rulings that have struck down limits on interstate sales of alcoholic beverages, Geiger points out. Supporters of the measure …