Gillette India may be the first global marketer to launch a campaign in India that is a direct response to the epidemic there of misogynist violence, the most recent example of which has outraged the nation and led to mass protests. The "Soldier for women" campaign, via BBDO India, builds on the Indian market "Soldier" campaign by the P&G grooming brand. The effort shows men ranging from a tattoo artist to a gym instructor to a mechanic and hairdresser, followed by shots of women from various professional and social strata. They come together, with the men standing by women, as …

London City Hall has committed to investing GBP7m in grass-roots projects in the capital over the next two years as part of the Mayor's Sports Legacy Program. The city, to raise that cash, has approached UK-based sponsors of London 2012: Lloyds TSB, Cadbury, Adidas and BT, with requests for funding of between GBP500,000 and GBP1m. Sources say the brands are balking on the backing. Lloyds TSB, in particular, is understood to have rejected the proposal, looking instead to fund its own schemes across the country.

At its fastest pace in a decade ABC has sold out its advertising spots for the Oscar telecast. It's also getting more money per spot. It's a big change from when ad sales used to go on until Oscar weekend itself. But this season, Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC had sold most of the show's commercial time before Christmas. Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said this week during a conference call that the telecast is sold out.

Kia is the latest maker hoping to "blur the lines" between a luxury sedan and a three-row crossover with the new Cross GT Concept it has unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show. It brings to mind the size gap between the 2- and 3-row versions of the Santa Fe launched this year by sibling maker Hyundai - but with more upscale accoutrements. "The debut of the GT in 2011 heralded a new frontier for Kia, both from a design and a business perspective," noted Peter Schreyer, Kia Motors Corporation president and global chief of design.

Toyota is keeping up the fight to be a belt-holder in the heavyweight division: pickups. The automaker laced on the gloves at the Chicago Auto Show, where it showed the redesigned Tundra for the 2014 model year. The truck will go on sale in September. Pricing has not been announced. The Japanese automaker said this is the first big change to the current-generation truck that debuted at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show as a 2007 model.

The one-year countdown to the 2014 Winter Olympics has begun, and Hilton Hotels used to opportunity to extend its partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee through the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

tYou go to a McDonald's (in Australia) and sit down to tablecloth adorned tables and real cutlery? The company has been given the corporate nod to try it for five weeks: plates, real cutlery and table service. Well, it's not the whole country, but a McD's (Macca's) a suburb south of Sydney, and had to get approval from Chicago headquarters. At the helm of the venture is the couple that owns the location, who say they came up with this plan while serving the man's parents and mother-in-law meals with real silverware when they'd drop by. When other customers were …

You know how kicking embers to put out a fire isn't always a good idea? Apparently, Hyundai Motor America may have scattered a few into the pine needles. It seems the automaker emailed some good news to dampen claims that it overstated the mileage numbers for some vehicles. The chart cited Consumer Reports data that Hyundai's revised fuel efficiency claims were more in line with EPA combined fuel estimates than all but three of the 15 auto companies listed. But there's a slight malfunction: "The analysis of our data presented here was not done by us," said C. Matt Fields, …

National supermarket chain Kroger Co. has been working to expand beyond the kind of cheese-stuff one thinks of when supermarkets come to mind: yellow matter in cellophane. They company has been working with artisanal cheese maker Murray's Cheese of New York to get real. As of the end of 2012, Kroger had full-service Murray's cheese shops within 67 of its own stores across the country.

Ford Motor Co. is plugging in plans to boost the number of dealers who can sell plug-in electric cars. The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker plans to have 900 certified dealers by this spring, up from the 200 by year-end 2012. The dealers, about a third of all U.S. Ford stores, will have trained sales and service staff, and at least two on-site charging stations.