Buick has launched its new "Your kind of luxury" campaign this weekend just passed. The effort, which broke during the Final Four NCAA tourney, launched with a 60-second anthem spot, "What Matters to Buick." The ad shows parents and kids playing, a couple running through the rain, an amateur photographer, and features voiceover by actor Kevin Bacon. The ad also mentions that Buick is the fastest-growing major car brand in the U.S. The pitch aligns with Buick's traditional positioning as the luxury car for the family doctor. The voiceover says Buicks have "a look and feel that says 'come as …

Allison Johnson, Apple's VP of marketing, is leaving after six years in the role to start her own company. The move comes a month after Rebecca Van Duck, former senior director of worldwide communications for Apple, was named global CMO of Levi Strauss & Co. At Apple, both Johnson and Van Dyck oversaw marketing and communications for products like iPhone, iPad, and iPod. Also last week, Microsoft's global marketing chief, Mich Matthews, left the company.

Brooklyn Motorized, founded in 2009 on the banks of the Gowanus Canal has rolled out its first electric motorcycle. The new brand is the realization of the founders' goal of creating an electric city bike that looks like a 1960's-era cafe racer. But not just any city. The company hopes to make the perfect NYC bike to vie against Piaggio's Vespa brand by offering something with just as much personality, but without the scooter aesthetic. "It's got the short wheelbase, the tight turning radius, but we also designed it so the batteries could charge in somebody's apartment," said Jim Carden, …

Columnist Jim Edwards at BNET fell for the same April Fools joke as I, but he wrote about it. So I'm off the hook. It seemed Home Depot had redesigned its logo, at least according to blog Brand New. The logo, putting only the H in a box, looked like something stamped on a paper goods crate. Actually, so does the real one. Anyway, it was a Brand New hoax. At least Edwards didn't fall for Google Motion. I, however, did.

Anheuser-Busch is paying some $50 million a year to make Bud Light the official beer of the NFL. It begins the program today with a contest linked to the NFL draft. The "Best Round Ever" gives $10 million to a fan who can pick the players who will be selected in the draft's first round taking place later this month.

That $2.50 small cup of coffee is just the beginning. As commodities and shipping costs rise, Americans had better gird their financial loins for higher prices. Wal-Mart U.S. CEO Bill Simon said costs increases are "starting to come through at a pretty rapid rate" at the big-box store. But he said the company is working with suppliers to minimize consumer price hikes at its stores.

The McDonald's mascot will be central to the fast-feeders efforts to reach kids this year. A new TV campaign asks kids to download their photos to his website to create viral "Ronaldgrams" showing themselves with the clown. The ads have him cavorting around town carrying an empty picture frame, speaking to people, dancing about and being generally clownish. He will appear in half a dozen of such ads in coming months urging kids to create Ronaldgrams, an effort to make the clown relevant in the digital age.

Dunkin' Donuts is mulling a $500 million IPO that would take place in the second half of this year. Sources say the company is in preliminary discussions to make the move toward a public offering. The talks come six years after Boston's Bain Capital, Thomas H. Lee Partners and other investors bought the quick-service restaurant chain for $2.4 billion.

Toyota Motor Corp. will raise U.S. auto prices by 1.7% on average, starting in May for Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands. The company's production has been down since March 14 due to the earthquake and tsunami that followed. The company has said its North American production facilities will be affected by parts shortages.

Spyker Cars, a niche sports car brand based in the Netherlands, acquired Swedish automaker Saab from GM last year for $74 million in cash. But Spyker says Saab is burning through funds and not making enough money on sales. In its annual report, Spyker said it is in talks to refill Saab's coffers, but the company said problems at Saab are worse than expected. The Swedish car manufacturer could see a negative cash flow this year, according to Spyker, and "the continuity of the group will become uncertain" if things don't improve.