5 Blogs Before Lunch

Calgon Is Being Taken Away and Mr. Bubble's Been Popped

The maker of Calgon, who's slogan was "take me away" and Mr. Bubble has filed for bankruptcy.

Ascendia Brands Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protectionand said it would try to sell itself.

Comcast Buys Daily Candy

I had no idea how big and influential Daily Candy was until a client was fortunate enough to be mentioned in the email newsletter targeting women. The client's sales went through the roof.

Now, Daily Candy has been sold to Comcast for a reported $125 million.

For those not familiar, Daily Candy is an email fashion and culture newsletter with 2.5 million readers (mostly women). The Wall Street Journal says that Comcast is purchasing Daily Candy from investment firm Pilot Group LLC. Under the arrangement, Daily Candy will become part of Comcast's Interactive Media division, the company said. The unit also houses other Comcast Internet properties, including the Fancast online video site, and movie-information sites Fandango and Movies.com.

Ford Being Sued Over "Limited Edition" Mustangs

If you market a product as a "limited edition" you better mean what you say.

A group of consumers who bought one of the 100 limited edition Ford Mustangs is suing Ford claiming that nearly double the number of 2007 Roush Stage 3 BlackJack's were actually produced.

The suit claims that the car, which consumers purchased at a premium, was not as unique or rare as Ford claimed it to be. The class seeking a jury trial and more than $12 million in damages.

Source: Reuters via Yahoo!News

Bristol-Myers Squibb Wants To Buy ImClone

ImClone has had a tumultuous ride. Now it looks like it is driving into the Bristol-Myers Squibb parking lot.

B-MS has announced that it is offering $4.5 billion in cash for ImClone Systems, the drug maker that Carl Icahn, the activist investor, took control of two years ago after an intense proxy fight, and who became well known to the general public as the stock sale that sent Martha Stewart to prison for lying about a sale of the company stock, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. Oh, and not to be forgotten, ImClone's founder  Samuel D. Waksal was sent to prison for issues related to securities fraid and insider trading.

More at The New York Times' Dealbook

Nike To Stop Selling "Air Stab" After Rash of Knife Attacks

Nike will stopping selling its "Air Stab" shoes following a rash of knife attacks across the UK.

Nike has said that the name was not a reference to knives but had become an "unfortunate coincidence" given the surge in knife-related crimes. A spokesman has explained the shoe was first launched in 1988 as a stability running shoe, which is where the word "stab" was derived from in the product's name.

Interestingly, the company continues to sell a range called Pocketknife.

Source: Brand Republic

Martha Stewart Crosses The Parking Lot, From Kmart to Walmart

As Martha Stewart's relationship with Kmart withers away, Walmart has started selling Martha Stewart-branded craft products.

The company's licensing arrangement with Sears Holdings Corp.'s Kmart stores is to expire in January 2010. Kmart has sold a line of towels, cookware and other Martha Stewart products for nearly a decade, helping generate one-fifth of Martha Stewart Living's revenue last year.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the move is designed to increase the number of new merchandising deals which carry higher profit margins than the company's media businesses.

Other merchanding arrangements include deals with Macy's, 1-800-Flowers.com, Costco Wholesale and Michaels Stores.

GE Considering Spin-off of Its Consumer and Industrial Businesses

Back in May, 5 Blogs posted about GE announcing it was considering selling its appliances unit. Now comes word via The Wall Street Journal  that it is exploring "all options" for its Consumer and Industrial businesses, saying the primary focus is spinning off the entire unit -- which includes appliances, lighting and industrial -- to existing GE shareholders.

Here's GE's explanation for the strategy shift (from GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt):  "As we explored our options for Appliances, it became clear that the fastest, most efficient step we could take in completing the transformation of our Industrial portfolio would be to focus on a possible spin-off of the entire unit,"

Blockbuster Hires Rebeca Johnson as CMO

This has got to be one of the hardest most exciting marketing jobs out there.

Blockbuster has named Rebeca Johnson CMO to lead the video rental chain's overall branding and marketing efforts.

Blockbuster as a brand has a huge challenge ahead of itself, as the concept of retail movie rentals dies on the fine. Johnson's background is primarily in the food industry, where her most recent job saw her managaing brands Chili's Grill & Bar, Romano's Macaroni Grill and On the Border Mexican Grill & Cantina.

From Adweek: "Becky is a seasoned veteran with more than 25 years of experience in retailing and consumer packaged goods," Blockbuster's chairman and CEO Jim Keyes said in a statement. "Her expertise in consumer insights, history of successful marketing/brand development, and proven ability to redefine the customer experience will be a tremendous asset as we continue to transform Blockbuster to offer consumers convenient access to media entertainment."

How Many Cracks Will There Be Before The McCann / Micorosft Marriage Is Over?

Is McCann Erikson losing its grasp on the Microsoft account? McCann has been sitting pretty with Microsoft's advertising for several years, but now cracks are showing in the relationship.

First, Crispin Porter + Bogusky grabbed a piece of it, and now JWT has landed Microsoft Corp.'s business-solutions advertising account.

Microsoft said: "In this rapidly changing media and business climate, Microsoft is committed to remaining agile and partnering with a range of media and marketing leaders to deliver results.

Sounds like someone wants to play the field.

"After roughly two years in market, we've decided to take our advertising campaign aimed at business customers to the next level," said a spokeswoman for Microsoft in a statement. "We opened up the creative review to several advertising agencies and selected JWT for the next phase of the campaign."

Universal McCann, the media-buying arm of McCann, continues to handle media buying for Microsoft, and MRM Worldwide, also part of McCann, continues to manage direct response and relationship marketing for Microsoft.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

No More Clowning Around. Bozo is Dead

Larry Harmon, who turned the character "Bozo the Clown" into a national franchise (and made millions) has died. He was 83. The character delighted children for a half a century--including this blogger.

Many people don't know this, but there were over 200 Bozo the Clowns. Harmon licensed the character to dozens of TV stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos (no pun intended).

"I felt if I could plant my size 83AAA shoes on this planet, (people) would never be able to forget those footprints," he said.