This Saturday 7-Eleven is doing its first "Bring Your Own Cup Day" at its estimated 7,700 domestic stores. For $1.49 you can fill with a Slurpee any cup you bring to the store for $1.49. Slurpee's biggest selling season, summer, is critical for the company because people who buy the frozen drink also tend to buy other items to complement the beverage. To prevent the immoderate fans from jamming buckets under the drink spigot, the company will have a 10-inch diameter hole posted on special stand-up signs.

Sweat pants as casual fashion? It's part of the "athleisure" trend: gym clothes moved upscale and made part of everyday wardrobe. The NDP group says sales of athleisure apparel were more than $35 billion last year, and that athletic apparel now makes up 17% of the entire American clothing market. H&M, Urban Outfitters, Aeropostale and TopShop have all launched athleisure lines. So have celebrities like Beyonce and Kanye West.

The Boston Marathon has had Adidas as its official apparel and footwear partner for 27 years. But New Balance has carved out its own space before and during the race, which happens on April 20. The company is running a multi-media guerrilla marketing effort proclaiming that it knows why "Nobody Runs Likes Boston," with signage throughout the city, and alliances with several high-profile Boston restaurants, shops and destinations.

Adidas will have a permanent store just steps from the finish of the Boston Marathon on Boylston Street. The 2,000-sq.-ft. shop, dubbed Boston Marathon RunBase, is a joint project of Adidas and the Boston Athletic Association, in partnership with Marathon Sports. Set to open in mid-April, the store will sell premium Adidas footwear along with seasonal and official marathon apparel and accessories. It will also feature exhibits and historic photos from the past 119 years.

Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts would rather forgo the PR benefits of having anxious Appleytes waiting in line at the store for the forthcoming Apple Watch. In an internal memo, she said she would like people to actually not go to Apple Store to get the new Apple Watch and order online instead. Directing customers to buy online reduces their frustration factor, even if they have to wait at home rather than at the store.

After a spectacular, billion-dollar meltdown, Fisker Automotive is set for a revival. The once-promising California start-up was purchased out of bankruptcy by China's Wanxiang Group which hoped to relaunch the plug-in hybrid Fisker Karma. The Chinese company is teasing the turnaround of what will now be known as the Elux Karma. Proclaiming "It's On," Wanxiang is promising to show off its version of the Karma sometime later this month.

Walmart is looking to increase its support of community hunger programs with a new "Fight Hunger. Spark Change." Campaign this spring. The campaign, asking the public to take action in the fight against hunger, involves Campbell, ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kellogg Company, Kraft, and Unilever. Walmart is offering the 140 million customers that shop at its stores each week three ways to help families. Walmart hopes to donate up to $3 million to Feeding America based on customer participation in the #WeSparkChange social media challenge.

KFC is favoring rice bowls over buckets for younger consumers. The company has launched two new bowls: Sweet 'n Spicy BBQ and Zesty Tex-Mex. Both bowls, which also come with a medium drink and a cookie, are part of the chain's $5 Fill Up limited-time items. Chipotle helped introduce the bowl idea to the fast-food, with Taco Bell joining in with its own version.

Johnny Rockets has struck a deal to open 100 restaurants in China over the next decade, the chain's largest development agreement to date, per the company. The deal is with a joint venture between AUM Hospitality, Johnny Rockets' franchisee in Malaysia, and Parkson Retail Group Ltd., a Malaysian department store operator with a network of about 60 stores in China. The focus will be on opening Johnny Rockets in Parkson-owned malls, as well as centers in Shanghai and Beijing.

It has been a long, cold winter in many parts of the country, but the boys of spring and soon-to-be boys of summer are back. So are the marketing efforts from MLB, teams, official companies and media partners. The league is pitching "THIS (Is Baseball)," "MLB Field of Dreams" and the Hispanic effort "Estamos Haciendo Historia Aqui." Sony's PlayStation, Subway, DraftKings, Topps and Church & Dwight are also ramping up activation.