5 Blogs Before Lunch

Top 5 Winners and Losers on This Year's Fortune 500 List

It was a rough year for the Fortune 500. America's 500 biggest companies earned 85% less than they did last year--from $642.2 billion to just $98.9 billion. Twice as many companies on the list had losses this year.

If there are any winners in this year's Fortune 500 list, it is the oil companies. Exxon Mobil replaced Wal-Mart Stores and four of the top five on the list are in the oil/energy business:

1. Exxon Mobil
2. Walmart
3. Chevron
4. ConocoPhillips
5. General Electric

And, who were the top five money losers? No surprises here:

1. AIG
2. Fannie Mae
3. Freddie Mac
4. General Motors
5. Citibank

Fortune reports that there's some good news for women in this year's Fortune 500. Fifteen Fortune 500 companies are now led by women, compared to 12 the prior year. Archer Daniels Midland, whose chief executive is Patricia Woertz, is largest of them all, at No. 27 on the list. Other high-ranking women include Angela Braly, CEO of No. 32 WellPoint; Lynn Elsenhans, CEO of No. 41 Sunoco; Indra Nooyi, head of No. 52 PepsiCo; and Irene Rosenfeld, chief of No. 53 Kraft Foods.

Find Fortune's full list here.

5 Christmas Ads Before The Holiday

Coca-Cola: John Lewis: Apple: Argos: Marks & Spencer:

10 Favorite Celebrity Ad Voiceovers

1. John Goodman:  Dunkin’ Donuts
2. George Clooney:  AT&T, AquaFine, Budweiser
3. David Duchovny:  Pedigree Dog Food, Sprint
4. Julia Roberts:  AOL (reportedly paid 7 figures)
5. Queen Latifah: Pizza Hut (does Jenny Craig know?)
6. Gene Hackman: Lowe’s, Oppenheimer Funds, CNN, and United Airlines
7. Jeff Bridges: Hyundai, Ameriquest, Duracell
8. Hector Elizondo: Tyco, Chevron, Mitsubishi, TD Waterhouse
9. Kelsey Grammar: Honey Nut Cheerios, General Foods International Coffees, Helzberg Diamonds
10. Donald & Keifer Sutherland: Volvo (Donald) and Apple (Keifer)

5 Blogs' Top 5 Celebrity Spokespeople Before Lunch

Celebrity endorsements are ubiquitous. Identifying 5 Blog's top five celebrity hawkers was tough. There are so many that didn't make the cut: Catherine Zeta-Jones for  T-Mobile, Tiger Woods for Buick and American Express, David Beckham for Armani, Ricardo Montalban for Chrysler ("Corinthian leather"), Orson Wells for Paul Masson wine, Florence Henderson for Wesson oil, Michael Jordon for Nike, and many more. But we knew we had to pick only five...
 

 

Merry Christmas, from 5 Blogs Before Lunch

We clap hands and welcome the peace of Christmas.

We beckon this good season to wait awhile with us.

We Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.

Peace.

Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.

We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,

Implore you to stay awhile with us

So we may learn by your shimmering light

How to look beyond complexion and see community.

From Amazing Peace. A Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou

5 Blogs Before Christmas (Ad #5): John Lewis Ad "Shadows"

5 Blogs Before Christmas (Ad #4): Marks & Spencer Ad featuring Twiggy

5 Blogs Before Christmas (Ad #3): Merry Pringles Ad

5 Political Christmas Ads Before Lunch

As the run-up to the first primaries approaches, the presidential candidates attempt to keep top-of-mind during the holiday season with "holiday message ads":

Barack Obama

Mike Huckabee

Hillary Clinton

Rudy Giuliani

John Edwards

5 Blogs Before Christmas (Ad #2): Northern Ireland Coca Cola Ad