Britain exercises "soft power" over the Chinese, it seems. Meaning Britain gets what it wants by attraction, not coercion. Chinese consumers buy UK brands such as Johnnie Walker, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce, Burberry and Gieves & Hawkes because of their Britishness, according to new research.

7-Eleven on Thursday celebrated the 40th anniversary of the first store to open in Japan. The store opened in the Toyosu district of Koto Ward, Tokyo in 1974. That was the beginning of a global c-store network with a head office in Japan. The first store was a converted liquor shop. In the U.S., Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. operates, franchises and licenses more than 8,200 stores.

After recalling more than seven million vehicles during the first three months of the year, the automaker on Thursday announced five separate new service actions covering another 2.7 million passenger cars and light trucks. The latest batch of recalls includes 140,000 Chevrolet Malibus, the 2005 Pontiac G6 and the 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe SUV.

Personalized stationery and photography company Shutterfly committed a marketing blunder Wednesday when it sent an email congratulating some users on becoming new parents (and, of course, prompting them to buy stuff). Problem was, many of the email's recipients were not, in fact, parents. That inspired some laughter and confusion, for sure, but some women with fertility issues also found it hurtful, Jezebel reports.

Google has promoted its UK managing director and former marketer Dan Cobley to a new role as VP brand solutions for Europe. Cobley has been UK MD since October 2011. He was previously head of marketing for Google in north and central Europe having joined the firm in 2006. Prior to that he worked in marketing roles for brands including Pepsi, Walkers and Capital One.

Activists are hoping what happens in Florida stays in Florida. So is Porsche. A dealer there decided to use live tigers at his Tampa store for the Porsche Macan launch. Porsche told dealers "no" after Big Cat Rescue told the company about the Floridiot (sic). PETA also weighed in. "Porsche does not condone in any way the use of live animals for advertising," said spokesperson Nick Twork.

Richard Sherman, Cam Newton, Andrew Luck and Colin Kaepernic are among 16 players vying for the cover of EA Sports' Madden NFL 15. Fan and consumer voting determines the winner. But it's the first time the cover competition uses a playoff-type format, with No. 1 seeds (Sherman and Newton) going up against the No. 8 seeds, and so on, with weekly updates on ESPN's NFL Live.

Intel is slimming its marketing ranks before the arrival of its new chief, Steven Fund. Nearly 40 marketing employees have accepted voluntary incentive packages to leave in recent weeks, per sources. Marketing VPs Kevin Sellers and Nancy Bhagat, who would have reported to Fund, are also leaving the chipmaker, the two sources said.

The fast-casual chain could play a serious role in fundamentally changing the way consumers order fast food. For decades, the fast-food industry has relied on a system that often results in long lines at cash registers and at drive-thru windows. Other fast-food giants are experimenting, too. But Panera appears to be one of the most ambitious combinations of technologies geared at speeding-up service.

Airbnb is looking beyond accommodation. The sharing-economy business wants to get into ticketing for everything from travel to events. Company CTO Nate Blecharczyk said "Bottom line, it could eventually be anything, whether you want to book a dinner reservation or plane tickets. It's definitely something we're actively working on."