McLean, Va.-based Capital One Financial has pulled a television commercial that featured a chimpanzee. The company also said it will no longer use primates in ads. The company made the decision after reviewing information from People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) about the treatment of apes used in advertising. "We believe you have made profound and compelling arguments about the treatment of primates," Capital One told PETA in a statement. "The ad in question is going off the air and we will not use primates in future advertising."

Jim Edwards writes that a lot of countries have cool logos to brand their countries as tourist destinations (my personal favorite is Mexico's, with Spain and Peru pretty close behind), but the U.S., which earned around $120 billion on tourism in 2009, isn't one. As Edwards illustrates, the United States' logo is a dreadful panache of Obama's presidential logo framed by the yawn-inducing "Discover America" in what looks to be Arial 14-point font. "With its stars and stripes, it looks like a presidential campaign logo," writes Edwards, "and says nothing about why foreigners should come here ... when was the …

Libya-owned Arabian Gulf Oil is in touch with foreign clients to discuss direct marketing of crude directly instead of via the state-owned parent, per a company official. The company, Agoco, split from National Oil Corp., based in Tripoli after uprisings, saying it was siding with protesters. The company is in eastern Libya, home to most of the country's crude reserves, a region that is in control of rebels demanding the end of Muammar Qaddafi's dictatorship.

Automakers in Japan can't make contact with some parts makers in the quake zone three days after Friday's disaster, and export shipments are interrupted by tsunami damage to the nation's ports. That means U.S. production may be affected if automakers can't get parts from Japan. Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will stop production at all its factories through Tuesday. Besides Honda, Toyota and Nissan, Suzuki, Mazda and Subaru say shutdowns initially planned only for Monday would be extended to later in the week. Honda has 113 suppliers in the quake zone and still can't get in touch with 44 of them. …

Besides automakers, Sony has shuttered six production facilities even though only one sustained major damage. The economic consequences of the disaster are likely to be long-term. A fifth of the country's nuclear energy capacity is off line and Japan's oil refineries are also hobbled. Kirin, Asahi and Sapporo breweries, which account for 40% of Japan's beer production, are down. Tokyo shares are also way down in early Monday trading. But scholars who study how countries deal with natural disasters say -- not surprisingly -- that rich countries rebound more strongly than poor ones -- Haiti and the Indonesia region of …

The Bank of Japan started adding huge sums to the country's banking system after the quake and subsequent tsunami, but the economic cost of the disaster depends on how long factories are shuttered. The uncertain condition of four nuclear reactors makes things even cloudier. In any case, Japan's central bank is likely to ensure lenders have enough cash to settle transactions, and will provide credit in the areas of northeastern Japan that suffered most.

The U.K. division of Disney is looking for long-term marketing partners across Europe, the Middle East and Africa to promote Disney brands. The new approach, called Disney Media Plus, lets Disney tailor marketing to demographics. For example: a Hannah Montana-branded BlackBerry and BlackBerry at Hannah Montana events.

Swiss cigar brand Villiger wants to take on premium brands in Europe like Imperial Tobacco Group and Swedish Match, which dominate the $2 billion premium end of the cigar market. The market for such products has grown in Germany and other countries recovering from the economic crisis, but Switzerland does not have the same reputation for cigars as it does for watches. "It's essential to offer premium cigars to be considered an authentic and real cigar maker, but consumers don't consider Villiger a premium brand," said the company's chairman, Heinrich Villiger. While the company's sales rose 1.5% last year, hand-rolled …

Brands had the biggest presence ever at the five-day conference in Austin, Texas. The event traditionally has been about the technology-obsessed, gifted, or enlightened, but now is now all about brands and their opportunities to get in front of consumers. Writes correspondent Steve Hall, "The conference is no longer a conclave for widget heads. Oh, they're all still here ... and grumbling about the 'invasion' of 'marketing people' but they, perhaps for good, have been silenced by the deafening size and scope of an increasing number of brands who have decided to stake a claim here in Austin. From Sony …

Forget soap operas; moms like digital games. Speaking at SXSW, Manny Anekal, game-maker Zynga's director of brand advertising, said one in five Americans play Zynga games and a lot of the new players are 40-something moms. "More women are playing FarmVille than are watching soap operas," he said. He said women in this cohort spend more time than anyone else playing this game and also spend the most amount of money. He says 55% of all social gamers in the U.S. are women.