Derrick Rose, who missed all but 27 games last season, has not been on an NBA basketball court since May due to a torn ACL and subsequent surgery -- but the Chicago Bulls point guard is getting intense and sweaty in the gym and weight room, where Adidas filmed an ad to track his attempt to return to his MVP form of 2010-11.

Contributor Tim Worstall, a fellow at the Adam Smith Institute in London, comments on the news that Apple‘s iPhone has higher sales than all of Microsoft’s products combined. (In the first quarter this year, iPhone had sales of $22.7 billion; Microsoft Corporation, $17.4 billion.) "That’s not really the most remarkable thing about Apple’s recent achievements," he says. "The truly strange thing is that they’ve managed to gain this level of sales while making software style margins on selling hardware. …

Not all of the best-known brands are youngsters like Apple and Nike. Many with the most valuable brand equity include some of the country’s oldest companies, as 24/7 Wall St. discovered in its survey of America's oldest brands. American Express, Coca Cola, Heinz and Jack Daniels are all over a hundred years old. Remington does not make the same rifles it did in 1848, but the current models are continuations of the brand’s core product. Brooks Brothers is also over 150 years old. Such brands continue to …

Musician/entrepreneur and "The Voice" judge Cee Lo Green has recorded a new "Fantham" for the "Thursday Night Football" introduction, played out to The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop," and NFL Network is searching for fans who want to be part of the weekly opening segment.

Chrysler Group will eliminate dealer incentives for customer satisfaction and penalties for dealers who don't build stores to spec. The new program, called the Customer Experience Initiative, "will rely on customer surveys that measure buyer satisfaction," writes Larry P. Vellequette. "But without penalties for negative scores, it shifts the responsibility to the dealer to fix flagging customer service."

Alicia Boler-Davis is moving up fast at GM. The engineer, an18-year GM veteran, and the first African American female plant manager there, this year became VP of U.S. Customer Experience and then Global Quality Chief. She has now been charged with designing a system to make General Motors win on the customer service front -- and not versus just automakers, but for all industries. She says one way to get there is to ensure GM customers understand how their vehicles work from nuts to bolts and buttons to advanced infotainment systems. Check out the video interview at the jump.

The Mirage Hotel & Casino has tapped Los Angeles-based independent David&Goliath as AOR. The agency won creative duties for the Las Vegas resort after a review involving five undisclosed agencies. David&Goliath replaces B&P Advertising, Las Vegas. The assignment is effective immediately and new work is expected to launch in the third quarter. Measured media ad spending in 2011 was just over $2 million, per Nielsen. That amount does not include spending on the Internet or b-to-b advertising. David&Goliath, which has handled Kia for years, recently won business from NFL Media and, last week, launched its first campaign, "It's serious fun" …

Contributor John Biggs says the tablet revolution is becoming de-evolution, as market forces drive price and quality down the toilet. "Remember netbooks?" he asks. "Exactly." Tablets were also the future, he says, but like the once-vaunted netbook, tablets will fall victim to manufacturers' weakness for squeezing profit out of a moribund product line. So much for premium products like iPad. "With the launch of the $199 Kindle Fire, and more recently the Nexus 7, the floodgates will soon open, driving down prices, quality, and value.,,as manufacturers realize they have to hit that magical $199 price point, the quality will fall …

Michael Phelps used to be with General Mills' Wheaties, switched to Kellogg, and is now once again on a Wheaties box. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh could not be split apart by beach volleyball opponents but rival cereal makers have done exactly that. The "Fierce Five" will appear on an upcoming Corn Flakes package, but history shows that does not prevent a fall from grace. A look at cereal marketing that may bowl you over.

Athletic retailer Foot Locker is launching a national multi-media campaign and is bringing a group of NBA stars along for the ride. Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, James Harden, Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook are among the players who will be featured in the humorous effort. It is the first campaign under the new "Approved" umbrella marketing push from lead agency BBDO.