Supermarket News
Kroger's mid-Atlantic stores are ready for the Super Bowl rush. These stores will each have an open house on Jan. 25 with party ideas, product samples and game day recipe ideas. The retailer is also planning a one-day sale of items like Kroger Cocktail Smokies for $1.88, 8-piece baked or fried chicken for $4.99, two bags of Utz Chips for $3 and a twin pack of Donatos Pepperoni Pizzas for $9.99.
Boston Globe
CoreBrand has named the top 10 most and least respected brands of the year based on a survey of more than 10,000 business executives from the top 20 percent of US businesses. The brands are rated by their size or familiarity and their quality. Brands that are well known but get low favorability ratings ranked in the least respected category. See the list at the jump.
Automotive News
Infiniti wants to have a new global ad agency selected and in place by July. The company has been moving the luxury brand away from its mass-market sibling both physically (the brand is now headquartered in Hong Kong) and tactically. The luxury marque put its advertising account up for grabs late last year. It has been handled by TBWA Worldwide, a unit of the Omnicom Group, since the late 1990s.
Bloomberg Businessweek
McDonald's, the world's biggest restaurant chain, has had a tough time of it lately. Some of its U.S. workers, and plenty of others, have been criticizing its low wages. Franchisees, who operate almost 90 percent of the more than 14,100 locations in the U.S., have been frustrated with the expanding menu and constant promotions. Customers have complained of slow service.
Advertising Age
Subways says it's introducing its biggest children's marketing campaign so far, spending $41 million in the next three years. The new effort will begin next month, and the announcement comes in conjunction with Subway's news that it is joining Partnership for a Healthier America, an organization backed by First Lady Michelle Obama. As part of its commitment to that group, it says it will introduce a series of campaigns to boost kids' fruit and veggie consumption.
Detroit Bureau
For the second year running, Toyota beat General Motors in global automotive sales, selling a record 9.98 million vehicles, about 270,000 more than GM. That represents a 2% gain from Toyota's previous year's sales. It also says it will sell 10 million vehicles this year, a feat no other car maker has ever accomplished, predicting 2014 sales of 10.32 million vehicles.
NPR
A new study of colas has found varying levels of a chemical compound classified as a possible human carcinogen in many popular brands. The study, from Consumer Reports, has resulted in the Food and Drug Administration taking a closer look at the compound, known as 4-methylimidazole - 4-MEI, for short. CR detected low levels of 4-MEI in Coca-Cola, Coke Zero and Diet Coke. But it found higher levels in some Pepsi products, particularly in Pepsi One.
USA Today
Looks like Super Bowl ads are turning into a team sport, too. Dannon and Jaguar each have three celebrities in their spots. And Anheuser-Busch has four, including Arnold Schwarzenegger - and a rock band. Toyota's celeb, former NFL player turned actor, Terry Crews, is teamed with a carload of Muppets. And Hyundai is expected to name two celebrities who will star in just one of its Super Bowl ads.
Fast Company
Fast-fashion retailer has added a spicy twist to its Super Bowl spot starring David Beckham. A teaser for the spot reveals that not only will consumers with certain Samsung smart TVs be able to shop from the new underwear collection, but they can also vote on how they'd like to see the spot end: Beckham naked, or Beckham in his undies?
NYSportsJournalism.com
Volkswagen is presenting its 60-second teaser ad for the Super Bowl, in a spoof that uses what seems every plot line and hook available. Carmen Electra shakes and shimmies in a tight red dress in front of a VW. True to the attitude of the commercial, however, her butt hits the car, setting off alarms.