Ford Motor Co. aims to reduce the CO2 output of its global factory network by 30% by 2025, part of a sustainability effort that has already seen a 37% drop in the emissions of the global warming gas since 2000, the maker says. That was one of the key messages outlined in Ford's 14th annual Sustainability Report released Friday. The maker said its factory effort helped reduce by 4.65 million tons the amount of all emissions it has produced since the beginning of the new Millennium, a 47% overall reduction.

Walmart and consumer products giant Procter & Gamble have launched mobile stores inside 50 Toronto bus shelters. Customers can scan QR-codes from their mobile devices at the shelters to buy items including Pampers diapers, Tide detergent and Crest toothpaste and have it delivered to their homes for free. Procter & Gamble staged a similar digital underground store just over a year ago at one location with online retailer Well.ca

A Wendy's restaurant outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba, has apparently been selling a 9-patty "T-Rex" burger to customers for several years, but shortly after the rest of the world got wind of it, the restaurant (in the words of this article's writer) the T-Rex burger has been made extinct.

A new study shows that brands may make us so predisposed to an opinion that we don't use the part of our brain that helps to make such judgements. The study, in the journal PLOS ONE, looked at test subjects brain activity with regard to various brands of soda (or cola, or coke, or pop). Subjects were presented with small samples of a beverage and were told before drinking each that it was either Coca-Cola, Pepsi, generic German soda River Cola, and a new (completely fictional) drink they dubbed T-Cola. But the samples were all a mix of the three. …

Auto manufacturers are flooding the market with a wide range of offerings filling just about every possible premium niche. Yet, a handful of models maintain an outsize presence, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class being one of the best examples. It remains one of the most popular luxury models in the U.S. and routinely accounts for 20% of the German maker's sales here. That's all the more significant as the current E-Class wraps up its final months on the market by helping Mercedes nudge past rivals BMW and Lexus to take the sales lead in the critical U.S. market.

It's not always easy for people to get access to fresh produce if they live in food deserts (places where fresh food is hard to find). States with a higher density of farmers markets; acceptance of food assistance programs at the aforementioned farmers markets; and other retailers (like supermarkets and corner stores) that have lots of produce are likely to have residents that eat more fruits and vegetables every day.

Chicago agency O'Keefe Reinhard & Paul has has picked up the creative account for Pizza Hut's WingStreet brand. O'Keefe Reinhard & Paul will handle marketing and advertising for WingStreet, PizzaHut's chicken-wing brand launched in 2003. A spokesman for Yum Brands' Pizza Hut said the agency "will be providing support for WingStreet as we continue to grow the brand." Pizza Hut last year spent about $239 million on measured media, but less than $2 million was allocated to WingStreet, according to Kantar Media.

With the World Cup just a year away, sponsor Adidas is gearing up its marketing but faces tough competition from Brazilian team partner Nike. Senior vice-president of global marketing Nicole Vollebregt explains how her brand aims to win.

Billionaire Ron Burkle is in talks to buy Tesco plc's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain and utilize the stores to relaunch the Wild Oats brand, according to a report Jim Keyes, former CEO of 7-Eleven Inc. and Blockbuster Inc., owns the Wild Oats name and would serve as CEO of the new company should the transaction come to fruition.

Toyota has once again been picked as the world's greenest brand, according to an annual consumer study that found five automotive brands among the Top 10. While the automobile itself may be linked to an assortment of environmental issues, from smog to global warming, automotive manufacturers are gaining increased recognition for their focus on sustainability, whether reducing fuel consumption, eliminating plant wastes or recycling materials like rubber, plastic and metal into new components.