Oh, Levi Strauss, we thought you learned your lesson the first time. When your creative team pitches an idea that deals with a woman’s posterior—particularly the scope of said backside—you should just move on. Otherwise, you wind up in your present predicament. The current campaign, “Hotness Comes in All Shapes and Sizes,” sounds great on paper, but it fails in its execution. Instead of actually showing women of various shapes and sizes, the campaign features nothing but skinny ladies. And it’s “ludicrous,” says the blog Jezebel.

Levi’s isn’t the only brand in hot water. In fact, something from the water got Amazon in trouble. The Environmental Investigation Agency reports that whale meat was being illegally sold via the company’s Japanese subsidiarity site.



Seems this just isn’t Amazon’s day. After failing to flex its own buying power, the online retailer was forced to remove more than 4,000 e-books from its site, unable to purchase the titles at cheaper costs.

Netflix is having a rough week after accusations emerged that it pulled “The Bodyguard” from its line of streaming titles in hopes of capitalizing on the recent passing of Whitney Houston. The company denies the charge.

All of these brands could learn a lesson or two from advertising legend Jimmy Smith, who, in honor of Black History Month, sat down with Advertising Age to discuss how he got into the business, as well as his mentors along the way and his take on the present state of diversity in the field.

Amazon should also pay attention to the ways consumers are using their smartphones as shopping companions. A report says 29 percent of smartphone owners use retail-related applications. Sorry, Siri—you might be a great personal assistant, but that doesn’t mean we want to hangout with you at the mall.

Speaking of mobile apps, Apple is counting down—or up, rather—to its 25 billionth app downloaded worldwide, with the lucky person to hit the milestone mark winning a $10,000 App Store gift card.

As soon as she started at NBC News, Chelsea Clinton took flak from critics, who counted down the days until she was relieved of her news correspondent duties. Now, it appears the tides have shifted, with sources revealing the former First Daughter could be close to an extension of her contract.

Maybe NBC can even work a cameo on “Community” into Chelsea’s contract now that the show has been set for a Mar. 15 return.

That’s even earlier than AMC’s “Mad Men,” but here’s a sultry teaser to tide you over until January Jones Betty Draper Francis makes her way back to our television sets. And if you’re more of a Joan or Peggy fan, here’s something for you.



While we’re not sure the ladies of “Mad Men” will attend this weekend’s Academy Awards, we do know Sacha Baron Cohen will be in attendance—as long as he doesn’t arrive dressed as a Middle East dictator.

If you’re not sure whether you’ll watch the telecast, GQ magazine offers 100 reasons to tune in, and no, host Billy Crystal isn’t one of them.

Still not planning to watch the Oscars? In that case, while everyone else is following red carpet fashions, you can check out the 10 most-followed brands on Pinterest.

Meanwhile, social networking rival Facebook isn’t about to lose its marketing edge to Pinterest. According to leaked documents, Zuckerberg and Co. plan to upgrade the site’s premium ads at the end of the month.

Leaking documents is like the corporate equivalent of cheating on a significant other. Maybe we should consult the people of D.C. on that one. Our nation’s capital was hailed as the best city for cheating by adulterer’s Website AshleyMadison.com.

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