Atlee Burpee & Co, which reports it is having another banner year thanks to America's post-recessionary love affair with gardening, says tastes are changing. While sunflowers and tomatoes hung on to their No. 1 spots as most planted flower and vegetable for the 2010 planting season, zinnias knocked marigolds out of the No. 2 spot, while squash replaced parsley. The Warminster, Pa.-based company also says it has seen huge increases in its organic seed line, which it plans to expand next year, and that sales forecasts for Burpee and its sister companies, Heronswood and The Cook's Garden, are set for …

Publicis' Optimedia U.S. unit has been named digital media agency of record for British Airways, expanding the agency's global media AOR assignment, which it has led since 1995.The new duties were awarded following a review, which included incumbent Agency.com.

Looks like it's time for Gen Y to start thinking about crow's feet: Procter & Gamble says is has tapped music sensation Carrie Underwood, 27, as its first-ever North American Celebrity Ambassador for Olay Skin Care. The endorsement is the first beauty contract for the country star, and a bit of a departure for Olay, which uses celebrities more in its global marketing than in the U.S. While it's no surprise that Olay would step up efforts to woo younger women—especially given the buying power of the Millennials—what is interesting is how increasingly receptive younger women seem to be …

After coming under fire for its tightly controlled approach toward iPhone applications, Apple Thursday lifted the ban on the use of third-party development tools in apps. That move appears to open to the door to Flash, the popular Adobe software which Apple had blocked from mobile devices as an unreliable and inferior programming language. In a brief statement issue this morning Apple said that to make the App Store even better by "relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers …

To market its new Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It game, Hasbro has rounded up some of YouTube's biggest stars for an online interactive Trivial Pursuit tournament. "The interactive game on YouTube is a first for Hasbro," Donetta Allen, a spokesperson for the Pawtucket, R.I.-based brand, tells Marketing Daily. "It's also the first time that YouTube channel stars have been tapped for an interactive game on the channel." After registering at youtube.com/trivialpursuit, viewers can answer questions to build up their own score. But since the main goal of this version of the classic is to bet on what …

Google announced Google Instant on Wednesday. Google VP of Search Product and User Experience Marissa Mayer described the feature at a press event in San Francisco. The tool aims to provide an easier and faster way to provide search results. Available on Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari and IE 8 later today in the U.S., but will roll out in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Russia, and others countries later this week. Only signed-in users will see the tool. Mayer estimates Google Instant will save searchers 2 to 5 seconds per query.

Consumers are using credit cards less according to a new study by Javelin Strategy & Research. The study says the recession has produced a "risk-adverse, cash-hoarding cautious consumer." The report, "Payment Card Issuer Strategies 2010: The Rise of the 'Cautious Consumer'", found that consumer credit card use is at an all-time low because of alternatives like reloadable prepaid cards. Per the firm, credit card use among consumers decreased 31% between 2007 and 2009 and that if that trend continues through this year credit card use will fall below 50%.

The finalists for 2010 OMMA Awards have been selected. Read about all of the worthy campaigns in Online Advertising Creativity, Integrated Online Campaigns, and Web Site Excellence. And again, this year, in addition to honoring our judges' selections, we'll also be recognizing your top picks in each group. Vote now for the Members' Choice, and come celebrate all the winners and finalists at the Awards ceremony during OMMA Global on September 27 in New York City.

The Digital Place-based Advertising Association (DPAA, formerly OVAB [Out-of-Home Video Advertising Bureau), has officially namedf Susan Danaher president, replacing Suzanne LaForgia.  Danaher will take over as -resident of the DPAA immediately, replacing LaForgia who will continue in the sector as executive vice president-sales at Reach Media Group, ( a DPAA member), and treasurer of the association. Susan is not new to the DPAA, having sat on the board in its earliest days in 2007 through 2008 while she was President of Reactrix Systems, Inc., a former DPAA member company.   Prior to Reactrix, Danaher spent over 25 years in the …

Procter & Gamble says it is moving all of its U.S. and Canadian powder laundry detergents to concentrated formulations starting next February. Under the "Future Friendly" program, the company will launch compacted versions of Tide, Gain, Cheer, Dreft, and Ivory Snow brands. Current products that only sold as compacted versions are Tide ColdWater, PUR and Cascade Action Pacs. The company says the compacted detergents clean the same number of loads though the container is smaller.