Why College Money Is the Best Baby Gift

By RON LIEBER

This week's Your Money column about the ins and outs of giving money as a gift to someone's 529 college savings account wasn't meant to be an etiquette lesson. But I do think giving money is totally defensible, even if it means pushing the parents to open a 529 or other savings account to use the gift.

Sure, toys are nice and clothes are useful until babies outgrow them in a few months. But many parents can afford the basics. All but a few families could use a head start on saving up the six-figure sum that will probably be necessary to send the child to college one day.

Have you given college money to a newborn? How did it go over with the parents?

Firestone Shows \'Drive\' in New Ad Campaign

By STUART ELLIOTT

Decades ago, cars made by De Soto with model names like Fireflite, Firedome and Firesweep roamed American highways. That may have been as close as anyone could have come to driving a Firestone â€" until now.

Firestone plans to begin running a campaign that takes a bit of poetic license by urging car owners to “Drive a Firestone.” The campaign posits that although Firestone builds no cars, it is nonetheless “a car company” because of the tires it sells and the automotive repair and maintenance services it offers at Firestone Complete Auto Care shops around the country.

The campaign will, according to executives, receive a significant increase in budget from previous Firestone campaigns.

The new campaign shines a bright spotlight on a longtime Firestone brand symbol, which is red and white and depicts the letter F inside a shield. That is because the symbol looks like it would not be out of place on the ho od of a car.

The campaign is to get under way on Sunday with a commercial on the NBC Sports Network that will be narrated by the country singer Trace Adkins. Plans call for radio, print and digital ads to follow.

The commercial features a fleet of cars and trucks that are older but look well taken care of â€" in other words, the types of older vehicles that may need new tires or repairs.

“We help trucks do more truckin',” Mr. Adkins intones. “We give muscle cars more muscle.”

“No, we don't build cars,” he says. “Make no mistake, we are a car company.” The spot ends with Mr. Adkins saying, “Whatever you are, drive a Firestone.”

The goal of the campaign is “to re-energize the Firestone brand,” said Philip Dobbs, chief marketing officer for the United States and Canadian consumer tire business at Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, part of the Bridgestone Corporation.

“The focus f or us had been on Bridgestone,” Mr. Dobbs said, and what Firestone advertising there was had concentrated on Firestone tires and “not the service aspects.”

But executives began thinking about “combining tires and service” in one campaign rather than considering them “separate business units,” he added.

“That was the genesis of the assignment” to create the campaign, Mr. Dobbs said, “to take advantage of the Firestone tire brand, our company-owned service network” and the auto care centers owned by individuals.

The campaign is being created by Leo Burnett USA in Chicago, part of the Leo Burnett unit of the Publicis Groupe. The agency was hired in April to handle the Firestone creative assignment, which had previously been handled by the Richards Group in Dallas. (Richards continues to create campaigns for the Bridgestone brand.)

The target for the campaign is what Charley Wickman, executive vice president and executive creative di rector at Leo Burnett USA, calls “high-stakes drivers.”

“They're the kind of drivers who don't wait for the red light to come on on the dashboard to get their cars serviced,” Mr. Wickman said. “They really care about their cars.”

Mr. Dobbs said he liked pursuing that audience because, according to research among drivers, there was a belief that “there's no one out there celebrating the everyday car, the average car.”

That is particularly important now because the economy means more drivers are keeping their cars longer, making them potential customers for Firestone tires or services.

Between the auto services and the tires, Firestone has “kept millions of cars on the road,” Mr. Wickman said. That led to the idea of presenting Firestone as “a car company,” he added, because “who says you have to make cars to be a car company?”

“When we hit that breakthrough, it all fell into place,” Mr. Wickman said, and playing up the shield in the ads helps sell the concept.

“Why shouldn't a great American brand like Firestone have something as powerful as a newer American brand like Target?” he asked. (Both logos are red and white.)

Mr. Dobbs said he did not believe the campaign would confuse consumers into mixing up Firestone and an actual carmaker.

“No, it'll make them pause and think,” he said.

John Neilson, vice president for brand marketing at Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, said the budget for Firestone advertising would be increased by 70 percent. He and Mr. Dobbs declined to give dollar amounts.

According to Kantar Media, a unit of WPP, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations spent $35.6 million last year to advertise Firestone in major media, compared with $44.6 million in 2010, $27 million in 2009 and $34.6 million in 2008.

Magazine Says: \'Eat, Drink and Be Fashionable\'

By STUART ELLIOTT

A food magazine is expanding its forays into the garment game with an elaborate promotion for the annual New York Fashion Week.

The magazine, Bon Appétit, is adding elements to the Fashion Week promotion it began last year, called Feast or Fashion, promising this time around, “Fashion all day, food all night.”

For this year's Fashion Week, the promotion will begin next Friday and run through Sept. 13. (Fashion Week, formally known as Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, begins next Thursday and runs through Sept. 13.)

More restaurants will participate in Bon Appétit Feast or Fashion than did last year, with the count climbing to about 45 from 10 or so. And eateries in cities outside New York will also take part.

There will also be more events, which will pair clothing designers with chefs and bartenders.

The magazine is also lining up more sponsors for the promotion than participated last year. The majo r sponsor for 2012, called the presenting sponsor, are the Chase Sapphire credit cards offered by JPMorgan Chase.

The other sponsors include Bombay Sapphire Gin, the Euphoria Calvin Klein fragrance, Hilton Hotels and Resorts, Elizabeth Arden, Santa Margherita wines and Seagram's seltzer water. (The twin Sapphires are apparently a coincidence.)

Information about the promotion will be available on the Web site, bafeastorfashion.com.

Bon Appétit has been actively seeking to tie itself to fashion for some time. Other recent examples include a joint promotion with Open Table and a Gap Inc. division, Banana Republic, to help sell a new Banana Republic clothing collection named Desk to Dinner.  (Open Table will be involved in Feast or Fashion, too.)

The idea behind the promotion is that “one tenth of 1 percent of the people” in New York for Fashion Week “get to go to the shows,” said Pamela Drucker Mann, vice pres ident and publisher at Bon Appétit, which is part of the Condé Nast Publications division of Advance Publications.

“What's everyone else doing?” she asked, then offered a reply: “Going out to dinner.”

“People can go to the restaurants by making reservations through Open Table,” Ms. Drucker Mann said, “and our staff will be outside the Fashion Week tents with iPads, making reservations on your behalf.”

“It's kind of ‘stunt-y,' ” she added, “but it's cool and fun.”

There will be advertising to help generate interest in Feast or Fashion, using social media that include Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as well as the magazine's Web site, bonappetit.com, and an ad in the magazine.

New Role Seen for Randy Jackson on \'Idol\'

By BRIAN STELTER

Randy Jackson, the lone judge still standing from the original incarnation of “American Idol,” may be moving into a lower-profile mentorship role as the Fox singing competition makes sweeping changes to its lineup.

Fox declined to comment on Friday on reports from TMZ and other Web sites that Mr. Jackson was leaving the judge's table. TMZ said he was expected to become a mentor to contestants on “Idol,” the television juggernaut that is entering its 12th season.

Mr. Jackson has been a judge on “Idol” since the series premiered in the United States in 2002. It quickly became the highest-rated entertainment show in the country and a major force in pop culture.

The other two original judges of “Idol,” Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell, left in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Since then a number of others have briefly sat in the seats, including Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, both of whom exited at the end of the 11th season last spring, leaving Mr. Jackson as the sole judge.

Fox and the producers of the show are now rebuilding the judge lineup person by person. Earlier this week, E! News reported that a former executive producer of “Idol,” Nigel Lythgoe, was going to return to produce the new season.

Like other shows entering their teenage years, “Idol” has suffered declines in the ratings in recent years. The decline was especially severe last spring.

In the months since the May finale, names of possible new judges have surfaced on a regular basis. Only one, Mariah Carey, has been confirmed by Fox.

The pop star Nicki Minaj and the country singer Keith Urban are also reported to be in the mix. But Fox and the producers have been mum about the possibilities, preferring only to comment once the deals are signed. They can't wait too much longer: singer auditions for the next season usually start at the end of Sep tember or the beginning of October, ahead of a January premiere.

Ways to Make Life Joyful

By BUCKS EDITORS

Paul Sullivan writes in his Wealth Matters column this week about a pursuit mainly for the wealthy - yachting.

While the market for yachts weakened significantly in the wake of the financial crisis, prices seem to have bottomed out and demand is rising again, Mr. Sullivan writes. Still, maintaining a yacht and paying for fuel remain expensive - a fact acknowledged by two owners Mr. Sullivan spoke to.

But both offered similar reasons for owning a yacht - the joy it adds to their lives.

While most of us could only dream of such an indulgence, there are many other ways to make life joyful, and they cost far less. We'll name a few - a day trip to the ocean, a week away from the office, a roller coaster ride, a meal meant to linger over. But we'd like to hear your suggestions.

Grooveshark App Removed From Google Store Again

August 31, 2012, 12:51 pm

By BEN SISARIO

Once again, Grooveshark just cannot seem to win.

Grooveshark, a digital music service that lets people stream millions of songs free, is facing multiple lawsuits from the major powers of the music industry, including two suits for copyright infringement and another one over royalty payments. Last year, Google and Apple both removed its app from their stores, and Grooveshark - which has 35 million users - suspected that complaints by the labels was the reason.

Earlier this week it seemed that Grooveshark and its parent company, Escape Media Group, had won a battle when its mobile app reappeared on Google's Android store, more than a year after being removed. But the victory was short lived. On Thursday afternoon, the app vanished once again.

Google did not announce a reason for the removal. But the company took the uncharacteristic step of rebutting a statement by Grooveshark.

On Tuesday, when its app reappeared on the Android store, Grooveshark suggested that the change was the result of cooperation with Google. “After working closely with Google to get rogue apps removed, we're delighted that the official Grooveshark app has been reinstated in the Android market,” the company, based in Gainesville, Fla., said in a statement.

A Google spokeswoman countered late Thursday that the company had not worked with Grooveshark to reinstate the app, and added that the program was removed for a violation of Google's policies for developers. Google did not specify which of those policies were violated, but the most likely reason, if only by process of elimination - violence and bullying, no; gambling, no; sexually explicit material , probably not - was copyright infringement.

On Friday morning, Grooveshark said it was not giving up, and noted that a version of its Android app is available on its own site.

“We have filed a counter-notice and are working with Google and their Google Play reinstatement process to get our our app back in the market,” the company said in a statement.

Whether Grooveshark infringes on music copyrights is in dispute. The company says it is legal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or D.M.C.A., a federal law that gives Internet companies “safe harbor” if they remove copyrighted material when asked. The major record labels argue that Grooveshark is ineligible for this protection, and that it needs licenses from labels and music publishers to use music.

But in Grooveshark's biggest victory so far, a New York state judge recently ruled in its favor about a detail of the D.M.C.A. The judge found that the law could be applied to music made bef ore 1972, when federal copyright law was first applied to sound recordings. To those fortunate enough not to follow the ins and outs of music copyright, this may sound like an academic point. But it's an important legal distinction, and the ruling gave Grooveshark and Escape Media a big advantage in the case, one of the two infringement suits against it.

As if ejection from Google's app store were not enough misfortune for one day, on Thursday Grooveshark and Escape Media were sued yet again. In a case filed in United States District Court in Manhattan, EMI Music accused Grooveshark of failing to pay royalties and, once again, of copyright infringement.

EMI had been the one major label to license its music to Grooveshark, as part of the settlement in an earlier infringement case. But those licenses were revoked when EMI sued again earlier this year.

“We have been sued and settled with EMI twice now over different issues,” Grooveshark said in a statement on Friday. “It is unfortunate that when disagreements arise, EMI resorts to these types of sue and settle tactics. At the end of the day, we are trying to help labels like EMI solve their problems.”

For Grooveshark, as with many technology startups that have run afoul of the music industry, its ultimate fate might depend less on whether it wins the suits than on whether it can survive the expenses of so much litigation. In May, MP3tunes, another music service being sued for infringement, filed for bankruptcy.

Ben Sisario writes about the music industry. Follow @sisario on Twitter.

Friday Reading: To Brief the Teacher, or Hold Your Tongue?

By ANN CARRNS

A variety of consumer-focused articles appears daily in The New York Times and on our blogs. Each weekday morning, we gather them together here so you can quickly scan the news that could hit you in your wallet.