A huge battle is brewing at the world's biggest, most established music awards platform. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), as is generally well known in music circles, has made big cuts to the 2012 categories. Out, reportedly, are categories like traditional gospel, children's spoken-word, and Zydeco/Cajun. But the category that has people up in arms is NARAS' decision to kill Latin Jazz. Now Carlos Santana and Cindy Blackman Santana have sent a letter to NARAS trustees asking them to re-consider. "Without Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, Joao Gilberto and countless others, there would be no Santana."

Supermarket profitability hit a new low in 2010. Consumers looked to bargains, and shopped less, according to Food Marketing Institute's Future Connect conference in Dallas last week.

ABC's cancellation of the show "Detroit 1-8-7" means the state will stop funding a show that was completely contrary to the state's own "Pure Michigan" ad campaign. Said Richard Cole, professor and immediate past chairman of the department of advertising, pr and retailing at Michigan State, "The negatives associated with featuring murder as sort of the central theme associated with the city are offsetting the positives that we are trying to do by running ... one of the best travel campaigns in the country."

The two pharma companies will work together to market treatments for hepatitis C in the U.S. The companies will promote Merck's boceprevir with an older drug from Roche to a market that will be worth $15 billion by 2019. The companies' researchers will also collaborate on drug cocktails to fight hep C, which over time can destroy the liver. Regulators approved boceprevir this month.

Adidas AG has tapped Hermann Deininger to be CMO for the brand starting next month. He will oversee all three sub-brands: Adidas Sport Performance, Adidas Originals, and Adidas Sport Style. Deininger will report to Erich Stamminger, executive board member responsible for global brands.

Amylin has filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California charging that Eli Lilly violated an agreement over marketing of their joint diabetes drug Byetta. The company says Eli Lilly has partnered with another drug company to marketing a competing diabetes drug. The suite accuses Eli Lilly of violating federal laws and engaging in anti-competitive practices by partnering with Boehringer Ingelheim on developing and marketing competitive drug Tradjenta.

Not everyone is happy about Disney's decision to apply trademark ownership of "Seal Team 6." Ad consultant Cindy Gallop is torn about Disney's application to own the name of the team that carried out the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Pakistan. She admires how fast and SEAL-like was their action, but that she also feels "absolute horror at the idea of this." One listener responds "Why not? The way this country is headed it will not be too long until our entire government is run by corporations anyway." Wrote another listener, "Seal Team 6 is the new Ghostbusters- …

Pangda Automobile Trade Co. Ltd, China's largest listed car distributor, will rescue Saab from collapse in a deal worth as much as €110 million. Saab's owner, Spyker Cars, said the deal will solve Saab's medium-term funding crisis and get factories moving again within days. Saab will immediately get a cash infusion of €30 million from Pangda for vehicles destined for sale in China. The money allows Saab to repay suppliers and restart production soon, per Spyker CEO Victor Muller. Saab's Trollhatten, Sweden, plant has been down for about six weeks.

Michigan has entered a period of sustained economic rebound. Largely because the Big Three are big again, Michigan is actually adding jobs over the next three years. The state's budget planners say the state will add 150,000 jobs. Its officials also say that it will end this fiscal year with over $428 million in unanticipated revenue. Sounding a cautionary note, budget director John Nixon said the news is good, but that "it's inaccurate to believe it's a windfall that will solve all of the state's budget problems."

Media Matters will launch a campaign to try to get travel site Orbitz to stop advertising on Rupert Murdoch's megaphone. The group cites Fox for being less than fair and balanced in its coverage of LGBT issues. The effort, DropFox, aims to let Orbitz know that Fox's take on LGBT issues is contrary to Ortitz' own positioning. The group is also reminding Orbitz about StopBeck, which used social media to try to compel 300 advertisers and a million viewers to quit Glen Beck's show, which the group says ultimately led to his being dropped by Fox.