Convenience stores and casual-dining restaurants are benefiting from an increase in dining-out frequency over the past 12 months, as the national economy shows small signs of improvement. According to the North American Restaurant and Foodservice Review by AlixPartners, consumers are eating out more often now than they were a year ago. Over the last 12 months, 70% of consumers dined out at least weekly, which is a 43% increase over the first quarter of 2010, based on research on a national sample of consumers over the age of 18. But dining frequency at convenience stores was up 63%, …

Burger King Corp has moved media from WPP's Mindshare to Publicis Starcom, giving the latter agency the Miami-based company's $300 million planning and buying job. Mindshare will work with BK during a transition period and Starcom's Tapestry unit will remain BK's multicultural media agency of record in the U.S.

The Rugby World Cup is counting on the Major Events Management Act to keep marketing guerillas in orange shirts away from the event. Thirty-six women were arrested during last year's football World Cup after it was believed they were hired by an unofficial sponsor who sold beer. The Major Events Management Act is legislation established in time for the Rugby World Cup to protect and prevent major event organizers and heavyweight sponsors such as Heineken, ANZ, Emirates, DHL and MasterCard, from being undermined by unauthorized commercial exploitation, or ambush marketing. Heineken is the official sponsor of …

Here's one that's different: trademark infringement usually involves lawyered-up mammoths going after each other or strong-arming some mom and pop op. But now a chain of seven Florida seafood restaurants, Pincher's Crab Shack, has filed a $2 million lawsuit against Wendy's over the use of the phrase "You can't fake fresh." The owners of Pincher's, which says it has been using that slogan since 2004, were surprised to see it -- and other "You can't fake ..." slogans -- pop up in recent advertising campaigns for Wendy's. The restaurant claims that no other restaurant in the U.S. has attempted …

David Boon, who is evidently famous (or notorious) for imbibing more beer on the flight from London to Sydney than any other human, his dispensed with his Victoria Bitter sponsorship for Canadian Club. This is the biggest brand shift by a spokesman since John Laws dumped Mortein for Raid in the 1980s. Boon will become a central element in the advertising campaign for the North American whisky brand, using the slogan "Boonie's over Beer".

It's the 24 Hours of LeMons. That's LeMons, not LeMans. Get it? "It's endurance racing for $500 cars. It's not just an oxymoron, it's for morons" says the official site. A 51 hp Chevette diesel won the "Index of Effluency" at this race of utter lemons, the worst cars ever produced. The race, at various tracks around the country (and with a serious website.) Writes TheTruth's reviewer about one entry, an incredibly lousy diesel Chevette, "Oh, it was incredibly slow indeed, although the cornering speeds weren't too bad." In the end, the Zero Budget Racing Chevette managed 39th place …

New Vitaminwater bus ads in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boston touting the brand's Energy SKU have USB charging sockets for cell phones, tablets, and gaming devices. The ads are by Crispin, Porter and Bogusky.

The lawsuit over Taco Bell's ground beef is gone, but Yum Brands expects damage to stick around in the third quarter and to ease during the remainder of the year. A decline in same-restaurant sales and commodity prices led to a 28% decline in U.S. operating profit for the second quarter. A California woman in January sued Taco Bell over the contents of its seasoned beef. Taco Bell responded by saying it planned to take legal action against the "false statements" being made about its food. In April, the woman voluntarily dismissed her lawsuit.

Sunny Delight Beverages Co. is moving into digital advertising after years of TV-focused marketing. The company has named independent agency Exopolis as digital agency of record for Sunny D. The Cincinnati-based brand is continuing recovery after years of sales declines, partly by cutting calorie count by 43% for its entire product portfolio. "We have really focused on traditional marketing vehicles for some time: It's been TV extensively," said Dave Silver, brand manager for Sunny D. "At this point, it's time for the brand to get into digital. We've done it here and there, but signing Exopolis signals it …

Volkswagen AG posted a record 4 million sales for the first half of 2011, but the company must "stay on the accelerator" to be number one, the company's CEO Martin Winterkorn says. To reach that goal, the company is focusing on the U.S., China, India and Brazil. VW's multi-brand strategy is giving the maker a distinct advantage over the competition, per another executive. The company's record 7.2 million sales in 2010, and Volkswagen Group sales gains of 12% during the first half of 2011 means the company is the world's second-largest automaker, behind General Motors but …