Marketing

Detroit's not the only one reeling from the collapse of General Motors. There are a few executives bummed out on the Paramount Pictures lot as well. Eleven weeks before the release of its expensive summer sequel "Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen," the studio can't count on its key promotional partner to support a marketing blitz that helps drive mass awareness of Hollywood's big popcorn movies.

First rule of movie marketing: With a hard sell, sell the faithful first. So it was with Walt Disney Co., which on Thursday used a gathering of thousands of loyal Disney fans to unveil "The Princess and the Frog," perhaps the studio's riskiest movie in years. Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger used the assembly of devoted followers at the Anaheim Convention Center, many of them sporting Mickey T-shirts, to screen a major portion of the film that marks the studio's return to hand-drawn animation.

Moving quickly to capitalize on fans' appetite for anything related to Michael Jackson, administrators for the singer's estate have mapped out elaborate plans for merchandising deals, a tribute concert, a television special and even a traveling exhibition of Jackson memorabilia. In a court filing last week, Jeryll S. Cohen, a lawyer for the administrators, said she expected the deals to generate an amount in the "high eight figures" -- tens of millions of dollars -- for the singer's estate.

Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen, known for their grimly comic portrayals of human nature, are poking fun at a new target: the coal industry. The filmmaking brothers have directed a TV spot for an environmental coalition that's trying to demolish the notion that there's anything clean about so-called clean coal.

From his rented mansion on Carolwood Drive, Michael Jackson sketched out ideas for the merchandise he planned to sell in conjunction with his "This Is It" concert series at London's O2 Arena, including a varsity jacket and a red handbag with a diagonal black stripe that evoked his costumes from the "Thriller" music video. The May brainstorming session resulted in designs for more than 300 items, including jigsaw puzzles and games for children and rhinestone dog tags.

The wise-cracking Chihuahua who earned millions for Taco Bell Corp. -- and some criticism from Latinos as an ethnic stereotype -- has a new slogan: "?Yo quiero mi dinero!" -- I want my money! A federal appeals court Friday ruled that Taco Bell is solely liable for $42 million in breach-of-contract awards to two Michigan men who created the diminutive mascot that starred in the Irvine fast-food giant's hit $500-million advertising campaign in the 1990s.

McDonald's -- never known for a delicate marketing touch -- is about to drop the mother of all campaigns on you, an everywhere-you-look, invade-your-dreams ad campaign in support of its McCafe specialty coffee drinks that will be not so much viral as bubonic. An estimated $100-million mega-buy across TV, Web, radio, print, outdoor and social media, the McCafe push beginning today will be, according to the company, its biggest "menu initiative" since it began serving breakfast in the 1970s.

Until someone dialed 911 on Feb. 8 to report a disturbance in Hancock Park, the pop star Rihanna and her R&B-singer boyfriend, Chris Brown, enjoyed relatively wholesome reputations. Attractive and talented, the couple were known as sexy but not oversexed, fun-loving but not reckless. The two seemed unlikely to be involved in anything more shocking than an all-night dance party. That image opened the door to a host of commercial endorsements.

Want a gigantic mansion but just can't stand paying list price? The owners of a 15,000-square-foot waterfront beauty in Florida want to talk to you. Rich Ricciani and his wife, Linda, know how important it is to make every dollar count in this down economy, so they've issued a coupon for $1 million off their European-style manse, where the kitchen alone takes up 650 square feet.

A day after the president threw down the gauntlet for the American auto industry, General Motors Corp. began the work of selling cars anew. On Tuesday, even as its new chief executive acknowledged the growing possibility of bankruptcy, the ailing carmaker announced an aggressive new incentive plan that, in part, will cover car payments for customers who lose their jobs.