ScoreBig Inc., which has raised $8.5 million from investors including private-equity firm Bain Capital and media executive Shari Redstone, has been quietly testing a system that aspires to do for concert and sports tickets what Priceline.com does for airline seats and hotel rooms.

Community commerce. Secondhand nation. Conscious consuming. Meshing. Call it what you will, the new mindset grew out of the recession that occurred just as social media boomed, leaving people looking for ways to get what they want without cash and without going to the store. John Gerzema, chief insights officer at New York-based ad agency Young & Rubicam and author of the Spend Shift, says, "People are realizing that thrift isn't a bad word. And we're very comfortable using social tools. The old way of spending doesn't have to happen. We can rent it, borrow it, trade it."

The :30 spot features a "secret government agency" who is tasked with saving vacationers from "being cooped up and overcharged by hotels" by offering "spacious vacation rentals." It is scheduled to air in the third quarter of the game on Fox, Feb. 6, being played at Cowboys Stadium. Following its rookie debut at Super Bowl XLIV, HomeAway said that visits to its Web site increased 500% the day after the game and that the spot generate a million incremental page views on HomeAway.com "immediately following the airing of the ad."

The strategy has made Amazon the largest online-only retailer, and it helps win new customers, but it has not worked against Apple, whose iTunes is the dominant player. The latter ties its software to its iPods and other electronics and markets it mainly through emails and Twitter.

Buyers are eager to grab food companies, which are generally safe bets, but figuring out which ones will survive the rise in private-label products is proving to be the trick. With the recession, people have discovered that private labels are about as good as the branded ones, leaving talk about possible buyouts of Sara Lee, ConAgra and J.M. Smucker, for example, just that: talk. Bottom line: It will take a few years to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The Food and Drug Administration will soon issue guidelines to pharmaceutical firms on how they can use social media to sell their drugs. Surprisingly, perhaps, it's the industry itself that has pushed the FDA to do so. Following Novo Nordisk's successful arrangement with racecar driver Charlie Kimball, a diabetic who tweets about the company's Levemir FlexPen, other companies are eager to make their mark on Facebook, Twitter and the like.

With busy mothers in mind, Target -- the store that sells such staples as kitchenware and diapers -- is adding fresh food to the mix and a big national campaign as well. TV, radio, outdoor and vehicle wraps are touting the three daily meals that could be managed with one trip to the store. The company, which has reformatted 350 of its 1,752 stores in the U.S., is basing the idea on convenience trips and affordable groceries. It expects to reformat more of its stores at the rate of about 400 per year.

The company raised the price of roast and ground coffee by about 12%, or the equivalent of 35 cents a pound, and instant coffee by about 4%, or 2.5 cents an ounce. "The price increase was due to significant and sustained increases in the price of green coffee," said spokeswoman Bridget MacConnell, referring to unroasted coffee beans. Similarly, Starbucks announced in September that due to rising green coffee costs, it would raise prices of labor-intensive and larger-size beverages.

A nationwide, $13.25 million settlement has resulted from a two-year, multi-state probe of the satellite TV provider after "confusing contracts, deceptive ads and misleading promotions" were uncovered. "This was classic bait and switch," Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal said in a statement, "hooking consumers with phony discounts and then hitting them with hidden charges. Consumers thought they were getting a deal only to get clipped. Customers who caught on and canceled were sometimes clobbered with substantial cancellation fees." Mike White, chairman, president and chief executive officer of DIRECTV, said the company "is committed to always operating with the …

While the restaurant chain has been content to hang on the sidelines of the annual football fest, this time around it will have a Martin Agency-created spot in the first half of the game. It's the latest move in the pizza wars among three mega chains, including Papa John's and Domino's. Past campaigns featured celebs and promoted $10 pizzas. While sharing few details, Pizza Hut says its in-game spot is part of an integrated plan and will highlight the role the brand plays in customers' lives throughout the year.