If large numbers of people dressed as superheroes are clogging the streets around Manhattan's Penn Plaza on July 27, blame New Leaf Brands, the Old Tappan-N.J.-based maker of all-natural, ready-to-drink iced teas and lemonades. Looking to tap into the large pool of unemployed recent graduates, New Leaf  is "casting" a team of "Defenders of Taste," who must show up at the audition dressed as superheroes. The Defenders, dressed in hard-to-ignore (even in Manhattan) green-and-black costumes that include head goggles and shields bearing the New Leaf logo, will pilot a branded vehicle around the city dispensing New Leaf samples …

While menu items deemed "healthy" by restaurant operators increased by just 10% between the second quarter of 2007 and the same quarter in 2010, there was a 65% jump in operators' reported introductions of such items between Q2 '09 and Q2 2010 alone, according to Mintel Menu Insights. The recent rise in healthier menu items likely reflects both growing consumer awareness/demand and governmental initiatives to address obesity and nutrition issues, including federal requirements for nutritional transparency on menus that will go into effect next year.

AT&T's exclusive relationship with Apple continued to pay off handsomely for the carrier as it activated 3.2 million iPhones in the second quarter and added 1.6 wireless subscribers overall. More than a quarter of the iPhone activations were from customers new to AT&T. The carrier beat analysts expectations, posting a profit of 68 cents a share, up from 54 cents a year earlier. Revenue rose less than 1% to $30.8 billion. AT&T now has 90.1 million customers. Read more here.

As focused as marketers are these days on Gen Y's environmental commitment or Gen X's coupon savvy, Nielsen reports that CPG companies have major blind spots in the way they target Baby Boomers. With a continued emphasis on either the 18-to-34 or the 18-to-49 demographic, CPG companies are increasingly losing connection with the 78 million Baby Boomers, Doug Anderson, SVP/research & development for Nielsen, tells Marketing Daily. "There is practically no segment or category out there where Boomers aren't a significant audience, even across technology, including cell phones and computers. They may not be the first ones in the …

Interpublic's Cadreon unit has announced a deal with Visible World to launch Cadreon TV, a "large-scale targeted advertising initiative." The effort marks the first time that Cadreon will actually apply its online audience-buying approach to television advertising. Interpublic said its Universal McCann unit has also assumed additional creative production responsibilities for an automotive client to utilize the new Cadreon TV system. "We are heavily focused on delivering television advertising against high-quality targeted audiences rather than focusing solely on CPMs," stated Brendan Moorcroft, CEO of Cadreon. Check back for more on this as soon as we can …

American Family Insurance is renewing its multi-faceted branded entertainment marketing campaign that includes NBC Universal and MSN and beginning a new relationship with WildTangent. The new deal includes a Latino financial advice micro-site and an insurance--focused social simulation game. The program integrates entertainment and education to engage consumers with the brand, its products and its agents. The campaign is "uniquely suited to connect with consumers about issues that matter most to them -- community, family and financial self-reliance," according to the Madison, Wis.-based insurer, which offers auto, homeowners, life, health, commercial and farm/ranch insurance in 19 states. Media agency …

Facebook today formally announced reaching the 500 million users following reports the world's largest social network would hit the milestone this week. To mark the occasion, the company launched a new app called Stories with upbeat stories from users worldwide, like how a high school student organized a community effort to save the oldest outdoor theater in Kentucky via Facebook. Here's CEO Mark Zuckerberg's post on the topic.

The total number of U.S. full-service and QSR restaurant units declined by 5,204, or 1%, this spring as compared with spring 2009 – a decline driven almost entirely by a 2% overall unit loss among independents, according to The NPD Group. Across all formats, independently owned units were down by 5,093, or 2%, to 311,548 -- while franchised and company-owned units that are part of national or regional restaurant chains were essentially flat, at 267,868.

Microsoft launched Wednesday a plug-in--Outlook Social Connector--that lets you connect Facebook and Windows Live into Microsoft Outlook. It lets you view your social network to status updates and photos in email. Microsoft also built out privacy and security controls. according to the company. Evidently the feature got little buzz because Microsoft has been talking it up on Twitter. The tool officially announced last week.

Managing your reputation should include a vanity search, according to findings from a Pew Internet & American Life Project. The study suggests 57% of adult Internet users have used a search engine to monitor their digital footprint. The most recent numbers suggest online self-searching among Internet users rose to 47% in 2006 from 22% in 2001. The tend towards to skew more toward those 50 and younger. More than six-in-ten Internet users younger than age 50 self search while less than half of those older than age 50 do so. The study also finds Americans with higher education and …