Connecticut's tourism business will boost its social and online efforts, plus advertising and other marketing programs to bring more tourists to the eastern portion of Connecticut. The Wilmington, Del.-based Caspari McCormick said the Mystic.org tourism website, which launched last June, has seen solid growth. The agency's managing director, Andy Wood, talked up the region's online programs and 2011 marketing plans at an event in Mystic on Tuesday.

China will be the biggest luxury market in five years but Chinese luxury-goods consumers are seeking products that emphasize China's culture rather than exclusive brands that are iconic in the West. Richemont Group's Shanghai Tang and Hermes' Shang Xia ("Up, Down") label seem to have figured that out ahead of others, while jeweller Qeelin is growing. An analyst with McKinsey in Shanghai says more brands are thinking about the products they are marketing to Chinese consumers, not just their share of the market and their messaging. China's consumption of luxury goods is set to grow 18% annually from $12.23 billion …

"Kindle with Special Offers" will have the same software as the $139 device, recently offered, but instead of the screen savers of famous authors it will have ads from Buick, Procter & Gamble, Visa and others. They will also be on the homescreen, but not inside the e-books.

J. Crew couldn't have paid for this kind of publicity. It seems the color pink has the power to make a young child gay. So say critics of a J. Crew print ad showing a mom painting her boy's toenails pink. Some pundits questioned the moral rectitude of the ad, saying it could make a kid question his sexuality. Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist and Fox News contributor, bellowed that that J. Crew president and creative director Jenna Lyons, the mom painting her son's toenails pink in the ad, had better put money aside for therapy. Media Research Center said the …

A new proposal passed by the Alaska House would cap tourism-marketing efforts at $12 million. The state would contract with one trade group for marketing campaigns with the contract being awarded if the group pays half of what the state is paying, meaning the program could get up to $18 million.

The National Football League is on ice with its labor lockout, and the National Basketball Association is skating toward a shutdown this summer. The National Hockey League could benefit as it starts its postseason. The Stanley Cup playoffs finish in June and, by then, the league could get a new TV rights deal. In the running are ESPN, Fox and Turner, as well as Versus and NBC, who air games now. The timing is good because they league is flying, having launched marketing ventures and new major events like the New Year's Day "Winter Classic" outdoor game that …

With generic version of drugs like Viagra coming, makers are trying new versions. Pfizer, which makes Viagra, is making a chewable form, "Viagra Jet," for the Mexico market. Cialis is projected to be the top seller in the class that includes Levitra, which is now offered in dissolvable form in Europe, a version that may be sold in the U.S. as Staxyn. It is marketed in a pocketsize, black box.

The government is looking into 1.5 million Ford vehicles after dozens of owners have said their vehicles rolled away after they had put them in "park." These are all vehicles built between 2002 and 2005, according to the The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which said it has expanded the investigation of Explorers, Mercury Mountaineers and Lincoln Aviators. The agency said it has gotten wind of 200 allegations.

British Airways, a division of International Airline Group, will run its first dedicated ad campaign in two years. The ads aim to remind consumers of what makes the airline strong. The effort, set to break in September, will be "interesting and challenging," per Kerris Bright, former global marketing chief who left the carrier this month to become CMO of bathroom fixtures company Ideal Standard.

Sears is set to introduce beauty departments in more than 100 locations. The Hoffman Estates, Ill., company said the departments will include beauty products from brands like L'Oreal, Maybelline, Revlon and CoverGirl. Sears tested the program in 13 stores last year.