Madonna, who turned 53 this week, is the newest celebrity booze endorser, inking a new global deal with Diageo's Smirnoff vodka. The Material Girl will kick off her new partnership with an international contest in which fans of the vodka brand can vie to become a dancer on her next tour. The competition is part of year two of Smirnoff's Nightlife Exchange Project, an ambitious global campaign that will seek to unite the globe for one big party this fall.

A late July email survey to 10,000 Gold Star Chili fans was meant to inform them of the chain's marketing decisions for the upcoming NFL season. Gold Star Chili is the "official chili" of the Cincinnati Bengals. But the contents of the survey, titled "Help Gold Star Chili assess the value of its Cincinnati Bengals Sponsorship," spread quickly online. Bloggers and fans interpreted the survey as a sign that Gold Star was reconsidering its commitment to the team in light of 2010's disappointing 4-12 season, and quarterback Carson Palmer's demand to be traded. Gold Star says it never …

When HP bought Palm for $1.2 billion in April 2010, it inherited Palm's hardware division, which created the Pre smartphone, and the software division, which built Web OS. It also inherited Jon Rubinstein, one of the masterminds behind the original iPod, and the Godfather of the next-gen Palm hardware. Everything he's designed has been beautiful and functional, but has bombed sales-wise. And in a surprise move today, HP just announced that it's killing its mobile hardware division. Here's everything that led up to today.

Upscale wipes infused with sunscreen, self-tanner, hair serum or deodorant are becoming ubiquitous. "A year ago they weren't as mainstream and available for multiple purposes," said Tracy Ogden, a spokeswoman for Amazon.com's Health and Personal Care, and Beauty divisions, where a search for beauty wipes turns up about 800 results. "Now customers can buy wipes for anything." Are these towelettes a minimalist's dream, or expensive Wet Naps? Stephanie Rosenbloom test-wipes a bunch of them.

Newspapers are mysteriously vanishing from racks across the country. Thieves are swiping Sunday papers from driveways, and others are digging through people's trash looking for discarded newspapers. The craze, authorities say, has been fueled in part by the recent TLC show "Extreme Couponing." It features homemakers and couples stockpiling reams of coupons, filling up several carts of groceries at the store and buying hundreds of dollars' worth of items for just a few dollars. The show also features shoppers wiping out entire grocery shelves, building additions to their homes to store the surplus goods and Dumpster-diving for discarded coupons.

Kraft Foods introduced the Triple Double Oreo at grocery stores Wednesday, packing three layers of cookie and alternating layers of vanilla and chocolate cream into an extra-crunchy, 100-calorie snack. For those who can stop at one anyway. It's the latest twist on the nearly 100-year-old iconic Oreo, the world's best-selling cookie, with more than $1.5 billion in annual sales, according to Kraft. The company said Oreo sales were up 22% during the first half of 2011, compared with the same period a year ago.

By 8 o'clock one recent morning, the line at Total Sports Repair was 20 deep. Arriving to oversee the annual tent sale at his Salem, N.H., shop, owner Brendan Sheehy Jr. did a double take. "It was like we were selling the iPhone 5 or something,'' he said. But it wasn't the latest coveted tech gadget that kept Sheehy's registers ringing for four days. Business was brisk because of something old school -- hockey skates, sticks, pads, and gloves.

Coca-Cola chairman/CEO Muhtar Kent on Thursday said the soft-drink giant plans $4 billion in new spending in China over the next three years, the latest big investment commitment by a multinational food group targeting the world's No. 2 economy. Kent said the investment would be used to add bottling factories, expand some existing facilities and fund initiatives in distribution, marketing and the development of new cold drinks. "It's our third-largest global market, growing at double-digits," he said. Not on Coke's China agenda, however: acquisitions.

New Yorkers are beginning to see another Barilla invasion, this one called the Summer of Italy: a series of events, roving street teams and product sampling that will take place over the next six weeks. "We believe that we are more than pasta, we are more than sauce," said Giannella Alvarez, president of Barilla's Americas Group. "We're about Italian culture and about sharing that Italian culture with family and friends." And with 8.4 million New Yorkers.

Mike "the Situation" Sorrentino may have to find some new attire for his "gym, tan, laundry" routine. On Tuesday, clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch said it would offer "substantial payment" to MTV's "The Jersey Shore"'s cast members to stop wearing the brand on air.