Business

A New York City man has filed a more than $2 million lawsuit against JetBlue Airways Corp., claiming that a pilot made him give up his seat to a flight attendance and sit on a toilet for more than three hours during a flight from California.

In the court documents, Gokhan Mutlu said that the pilot told him to "go 'hang out' in the bathroom" about 90 minutes into his San Diego to NYC flight. He says that he was asked to move because a flight attendant complained that the "jump seat" she was assigned to was uncomfortable.

Mutlu was traveling using a "buddy pass", which is a standby travel voucher given to friends by JetBlue employees. He flew from New York to San Diego on February 16, and took a return flight to New York on February 23.

Mutlu was initially told that a flight attendant had taken the plane's last seat, but was later advised that she would sit in the employee "jump seat", which meant that he could in fact have the last seat.

Auto industry analysts believe that Ford Motor Co. may soon be retiring its mid-level Mercury brand to focus their efforts on their Ford and Lincoln brands. Ford executives have vehemently denied such reports.

The Los Angeles Times reported over the weekend comments by industry analyst Aaron Bragman of Global Insight, who said that Mercury sales have declined, which may soon make it an expendable brand in the Ford Motor Co. family.

Ford Motor Co. may soon retire its Mercury brand to focus its efforts on Ford and Lincoln brands, U.S. auto industry analysts say.

According to Bragman, "Mercury has one more product cycle left in it, and then will most certainly be retired as a brand."

Jerome York, a former auto executive that now serves as an advisor to billionaire Kirk Kerkorian's investment company, also indicated last week that the struggling company would benefit from retiring the Mercury brand. Kerkorian's company currently owns a 4.7% stake in Ford, and is said to be interested in increasing its investment.

According to the LA Times, US sales of all Mercury models have dropped 23% this year. That marks the largest drop in sales in 2008 for any brand except Hummer and Chrysler.

Analyst Tom Libby blames the drop on the Mercury brand's look and cost:

United Parcel Service is hoping for a delivery from its namesake Big Brown in the Preakness Stakes. The 2008 Kentucky Derby winner, who many are starting to believe will become the first thoroughbred to win horse racings Triple Crown, has signed a sponsorship agreement with International Equine Acquisitions Holdings prior to the second jewel of the Triple Crown. The horse, who was named after the delivery company, is ridden by Kent Desormeaux who had already signed a deal with UPS. The racing team will fly the colors of the company on Preakness Day.

Big Brown's team was pleased to have UPS along for the ride, saying:

“This is such a thrilling time for our entire ownership team and we are extremely honored to have a company like UPS along for the ride,” said Michael Iavarone, co-president and CEO of International Equine Acquisitions Holdings, Inc., which owns IEAH Stables. “Having a Kentucky Derby winning-horse is a dream come true. Competing for a Triple Crown title is the thrill of a lifetime and we’ll be supporting ‘Brown’ all the way.”

Papa John's estimates that they sold an estimated 75,000 pizzas on Thursday in Ohio during a promotion that offered pizza lovers the chance to snag a pie for just 23-cents. More than 80 Papa John's locations in Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown, Toledo, and Columbus took park in the one-day special.

The promotion netted more than $17,500, with all proceeds going to the LeBron James Family Foundation. Papa Johns also donated an additional $10,000 to James' foundation, as well as another $10,000 to the Cavaliers Youth Fund.

Paja Johns offered the promotion to Ohioans after backing the wrong team in the playoffs, and giving away t-shirts making fun of "cry baby" LeBron James. After numerous complaints, Papa Johns decided on a 23-center special, taking inspiration from LeBron's #23.

Obviously more than just Cavs fans showed up for the special deal, and throughout the day there were reports of long lines, traffic problems, and complaints about long waits.

According to a renowned airbrush artist, Dove's "real beauties" might not be so real afterall. In a profile published in The New Yorker online, Pascal Dangin of Box Studios was quoted as saying that he extensively retouched photos used in the Campaign for Real Beauty.

Lauren Collins, who wrote the article, said that she had mentioned the Dove ad campaign "that proudly featured lumpier-than-usual 'real women' in their undergarments." She says, "it turned out that it was a Dangin job."

To which Dangin then said, "Do you know how much retouching was on that? But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone's skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive.'"

Since the articles publication, attempts to contact Unilever, Dove's parent company, were unsuccessful. However a spokesman for the campaign creators at Ogilvy & Mather cast doubt on Dangin's claims, but did say that they are attempting to colelct details of his work.

A spokeswoman for Ogilvy said:

"We are unsure right now what he did. He works with Annie Leibovitz, the photographer. And we don't have any record of him actually working on any of the Dove campaign.

Gisele Bündchen has once again been named the world's top supermodel for the second year in a row, with earnings of more than $35 million in the past year. The Brazilian model outearned #2 Heidi Klum ($14 mil) by more than double on the list compiled by Forbes.com.

Bündchen, 27, managed to rake in $35 million last year despite having terminated a lucrative contract with Victoria's Secret last May. In fact, she earned $2 million more than she did in 2006.

But the girl friend of football superstar Tom Brady is more than just looks- she's also known for her business savvy. Contributing to her 2007 earnings is the fact that she insists on having her contracts paid in Euros, rather than the failing US dollar.

Kate Moss dropped a spot on the list to #3, and Australian model Miranda Kerr (Orlando Bloom's girlfriend) is a new entry this year at #10.

Here is the list of the top ten earning supermodels in the world:

1. Gisele Bundchen, $35 million
2. Heidi Klum, $14 million
3. Kate Moss, $7.5 million
4. Adriana Lima, $7 million
5. Doutzen Kroes, $6 million
6. Karolina Kurkova, $5 million
7. Natalia Vodianova, $4.8 million
8. Carolyn Murphy, $4.5 million
9. Daria Werbowy, $3.8 million
10. Miranda Kerr, $3.5 million

Attention Wal-Mart shoppers. The retailer has announced that on Sunday, May 18th, their supercenter stores will be giving out free sundaes to mark the return on of summer. The ice cream social will run from 12 pm till 5 pm and include yummy treats such as Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, Breyers Chocolate Crackle, Reddi-Wip Original, and more all for free. So where in Cleveland can you go to get your free sundae? Steelyard Commons is a Wal-Mart Supercenter and is located at 3400 Steelyard Drive.

Juicy Couture, the California apparel company made famous by the likes of Britney Spears and other Hollywood elite, has filed a lawsuit against Victoria's Secret. In the filing, Juicy Couture accuses Victoria's Secret of stealing their idea of putting their name on the backsides of women's clothing.

The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in Manhattan, in which Juicy Couture claims:

"The similarities are not inadvertent and are designed to capitalize on the success of Juicy Couture."

Further suggesting that Victoria's Secret is out to steal and capitalize on all their ideas, Juicy Couture also accuses them of selling clothes wrapped in the shape of lollipops, bon bons and ice cream cones in order to mimic the success of their Sweet Shoppe packaging.

But that's not all! The suit also claims that VS is using deceptive trade practices, and is trying to capitalize on the success of Juicy Couture.

Juicy is asking for the judge to order all of the offending clothes destroyed, and is asking for triple damages, or three times the profits that VS made through the sale of its allegedly stolen ideas.

With declining circulation numbers and revenues, the print newspaper industry has for all accounts and purposes seen its best days fall behind them. Meanwhile, online revenues are on the rise, which leaves many of us left wondering when the newspapers will simply call it quits and shift their focus entirely online. For one daily newspaper in Wisconsin, the time is now.

On Saturday, The Capital Times of Madison, Wisconsin shut down its print operations, fired a third of its staff, and completely restructured its business to focus exclusively online. The 90-year-old daily newspaper is one of the first such daily newspapers to make this drastic decision, but felt the affects of the dying industry twice as much being the afternoon paper in a two-newspaper town.

Recently, the newspaper's circulation dropped to just around 18,000, down from a high of 40,000 in the 1960's.

Clayton Frink, publisher of The Capital Times, said in an interview just two days before the final daily press run:

"We felt our audience was shrinking so that we were not relevant. We are going a little farther, a little faster, but the general trend is happening everywhere."

Where's the beef? It is now in Atlanta. Wendy's, which was founded and based in Ohio, has been acquired by the parent company of Arby's. The Atlanta based chain had been trying to obtain control of the Dublin, Ohio, based chain for over a year. $2.34 billion of Triarc Companies Inc was the number that Wendy's board agreed to today.

Pam Thomas Farber, the daughter of founder Dave Thomas whose passing seemed to have doomed the 3rd largest hamburger chains fortunes, expressed her displeasure with the takeover by Triarc Companies Inc.

"It's a very sad day for Wendy's, and our family. We just didn't think this would be the outcome"

Wendy's stock price has plummeted over the year and billionaire Nelson Peltz, who is the largest shareholder of Triarc, has made it his goal to takeover the weakened company. Following a poor quarter he finally won over the board who agreed to $26.78 for the company who had traded over $40 a share just a year ago.