After Lululemon unwittingly churned out thousands of apparently see-through yoga pants, the company is now facing a worldwide shortage of its iconic hip-hugging bottoms. "We have determined that certain shipments of product received from our factories ... do not meet our technical specifications," wrote the company in a Monday afternoon statement titled "Black Luon Pants Shortage Expected."

Unilever is getting in front of the Formula 1 season with a SureMen anti-perspirant range program around its sponsorship of the Lotus F1 team. The launch of the products coincides with the beginning of Unilever's three-year global sponsorship of Lotus, which was celebrating yesterday, after its driver Kimi Raikkonen won the first Grand Prix of the new season in Australia.

Electronic Arts has announced that CEO John Riccitiello has resigned. Riccitello will remain in the job through March 30, at which point he will step down, along with giving up his seat on the company's board of directors. Chairman of the board Larry Probst has been named Executive Chairman "to ensure a smooth transition and to lead EA's executive team while the Board conducts a search for a permanent CEO."

Aeropostale, which reported a Q4 net loss of $671,000, compared with a profit of $26.1 million for the year-earlier period, plans to open approximately 14 Aeropostale stores, approximately 60 P.S. from Aeropostale stores, remodel approximately 30 stores, and close approximately 15 to 20 Aeropostale stores. The company expects to invest approximately $89.0 million in its store growth and certain information technology, compared to approximately $72.3 million in fiscal 2012.

Auntie Anne's Pretzels the 1,330-unit franchise entered its 25th country this year after opening in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The company did a deal with K&H Vietnam Co. to open 30 units in the country over the next eight years. The landmark Vietnamese unit, which is owned and operated by master franchise partners and husband-and-wife team Thien Huong Nguyen and Boonkue Witchawut, represents the company's 332nd international location.

RadioShack last week confirmed it had recruited Michael De Fazio, one of the architects behind Duane Reade's new store formats, to help the small-box specialty retailer build its retail presence. De Fazio joins a team that includes Troy Risch, who came to RadioShack from Target as EVP operations in December, and Huey Long, formerly of Wal-Mart and now RadioShack EVP strategy and consumer insights who also signed with RadioShack in December.

Fisker's founder has fled. Will potential Chinese partners do likewise? That appears to be a strong possibility according to published reports and several sources TheDetroitBureau.com has spoken to. The question then is whether the struggling battery-car maker will have the resources to continue on its own considering its financial problems and the repeated delays in launching the company's critical second product, the Fisker Atlantic.

The restaurant industry's spending for advertising has outpaced the average for all U.S. business. According to data from Kantar Media, restaurants spent $6.185 billion on advertising in 2012, a 4% increase from the $5.912 billion spent the previous year. Total ad advertising for all categories rose just 3% to $87.502 billion in 2012, up from $84.916 in 2011.

McDonald's gave away 5 million McMuffins last week at 5,000 McDonald's restaurants in 30 countries in a single morning in Asia, the Middle East and South Africa. "The sheer scale of this regional initiative...reflects our ambition to strengthen our customer base for breakfast across Asia," said Andrew Hipsley, chief brand officer for McDonald's Asia-Pacific.

Mary Kay Inc. CEO David Holl says he is considering expansion into Turkey and Vietnam as it also tries to propel its base of door-to-door makeup sellers to three million by the company's 50th anniversary in September. In this Q&A, he talks global markets and sector challenges.