I have seen an endless parade of holiday commercials this year, many of which have been running since Halloween night ended. And about the only thing I haven't witnessed is a birthday wish for sweet baby Jesus... or tiny infant Jesus or teenage Jesus or grown-up Jesus or bearded Jesus or any Jesus for that matter.

That gentle thud you heard earlier this week was the first of the FTC's many shoes likely to drop over the course of the next year. In case you missed it, the Commission announced in a blog post (yeah, in a blog post, not a news conference or direct mail) on Monday that it was going to hold a public workshop on Wednesday... and it did.

By now, we have all seen Ron Burgundy’s endorsement for the Chrysler Dodge Durango. The DreamWorks character is dressed in a loud 1970’s suit and exaggerating the need for an SUV. Advertising has expanded to Burgundy co-anchoring newscasts, a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor – Scotchy Scotch Scotch – and even Ron Burgundy liquor.

Branding is a huge concern among organizations and the agencies that serve them.  The brand name – of the company and the products and the services... the logo, the tagline, the graphics, and so much more.  Even tastes, sounds, textures and colors.

There are many faces of John F. Kennedy.  But my favorite is the stern and tired, yet hopeful John Kennedy.

Personally, I am not very big on rules.  I mean, I get why we need them, and I tend to abide by them... most of them anyway. But rules don't always make sense, despite what we learned in Zombieland. Here's a new rule:  Today the FDA announced plans to require the food industry to gradually phase out all trans fats, saying they are a threat to people's health.

Facebook, whose stated mission is to make the world more open and connected,  publicly acknowledged today that its true goal under the direction of CEO Mark Zuckerberg is to open the world's pockets and connect with their wallets.

The problem with the world today is that there are just too many people to keep track of.  Even with the explosion of social media, there are just too many people.  As a result, even some of the great ones manage to slip under the radar.

If it feels like the process of measuring the ROI of social media is a bit like the search for the Holy Grail, you may be on to something. But the suggested measurement methodology of Jim Tobin (founder and president of Ignite Social Media, a social media marketing agency in Cary) – assuming the reporter is being accurate – is beyond the gates of the Castle Augh.

Two days ago I posted what I promised would by my last commentary on the de-evolution of JCPenney.  But Ilied. And it's not my fault. Mike Ullman's new strategy is to make daily announcements about JCPenney until everyone finally surrenders and starts shopping at the retailer again.