Kayak.com’s review for an AOR is nearing completion, with two agencies set to present on Tuesday, April 7, according to Kellie Pelletier, Kayak.com’s VP of communications. Stay tuned for more exclusive coverage the week of April 6.

Ben & Jerry’s announced today it was behind the unsettling corporate site, Cyclone Dairy, a company marketing milk from 100% cloned cows. Part April Fool’s Day prank, part educational campaign, the fake site, which went up about two weeks ago, was created to drive awareness about the use of cloned animals in the food supply and advocate Congress create a national registry and tracking system. AOR Cone supported the initiative.

Sears launched a new tag line - “Sears. Life. Well spent.” - that will more strategically align the company’s branding efforts with consumers’ increased interest in quality of life and thoughtful consumption. The new tag line reflects consumers’ changing ideas about the American dream and how Sears’ products fit in with these values, said Tom Aiello, division VP of PR for Sears Holdings. Euro RSCG Worldwide PR will provide PR support.  “As we move ahead, you’ll see strategies and tactics come out that really bring the tag line to life,” Aiello said. One example is the Heroes at Home program, which provides support to service members and their families. Sears will be expanding the scope of this program’s reach to include other “everyday heroes,” such as teachers, police officers, and fireman. Projected to begin this expansion in the fall, these changes will “bring focus into local communities,” says Aiello.

More often than not, PR pros redirect the spotlight away from their own achievements and onto their clients’ successes. Occupational hazard aside, the 2009 PRWeek Awards provided PR pros with the opportunity to put their own accomplishments front and center and celebrate an industry’s overall excellence. During my second Awards, it was a real pleasure to hear the enthusiastic applause for agencies in the midst of challenging (and highly scrutinized) projects, like Fleishman Hillard’s win for assisting with Bumble Bee Foods’ Castleberry’s National Food Recall, or small agencies, like Dig Communications, be lauded in their own right. Above all, what the the 2009 Awards did best was showcase the value created by all the nominated agencies, win or lose, and the industry at large.

Skittles recently unveiled a new Web site, putting its social media efforts into hyperdrive. The brand candy, positively remembered for its digital Bebo effort, now provides direct links to various branded social media programs, including a Twitter results page, Flickr, YouTube videos, and a Facebook page. This initiative is being considered a “brave” shift for the candy as these brand communications are ceded to consumers, sans filter.

Five days and counting, PepsiCo hasn’t slated all of the Super Bowl LVIII ads it plans to air. The soda giant is relying on blogosphere buzz to determine which ads will best align with consumer interests. This news, along with a showing of the airing Monsters vs. Aliens ad, was unveiled at a press conference, held by the conglomerate, today. The company also said Gatorade’s “G” ads, which generated questions from media and bloggers, will move forward from the Super Bowl with clearer branding tactics.

After 77 years, GM is no longer the world’s largest automaker, selling only 8.35 million vehicles as opposed to Toyota’s 8.97 million. While both companies face falling sales and eroding consumer confidence, does Toyota’s claim to the title even matter?

“It certainly doesn’t have the oomph it would have, had the environment been better,” Michelle Krebs, senior editor of Edmunds’ AutoObserver.com, told PRWeek. “A company can sell a lot of cars and not make money…The media makes a whole lot more of this…The consumer doesn’t much care.”

Krebs also notes that the greater focus for these automakers is on being “profitable and minimizing losses to better position [themselves].”

Fritz Henderson, GM COO, echoed that sentiment Tuesday, at the Automotive News World Congress, where Bloomberg reported, Henderson said the sales race didn’t compare with the company’s current objective of returning to profitability. Henderson reportedly said, “What if we have an $800 billion fiscal stimulus package and it doesn’t work?”

When US Airways Flight 1549 went down, the first to report the accident were not major news networks or publications, but instead witnesses on Twitter. The user twittered, “There’s a plane in the Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.” He even added an image. Almost a day later, Twitter users are continuing to post photographs and comments about the incident, alongside twittering media outlets, like The Huffington Post and WBEZ Chicago Public Radio, who are seeking to add to the conversation with updates (and emphasize their relevance).

Shortly, after the crash, the new account was opened, and it seemed the airline made its first step to twitter. The directed readers to MSNBC.MSN.com for updates on the breaking situation. Also, the account followed up with posts providing information for family members of passengers and expressing gratitude for the professionalism of pilots.

Now, the questions seem to be how the new user usairways will seek to leverage its network of interested followers in the future. And, how traditional media outlets will insert themselves into real-time reporting mechanisms, like Twitter, to keep abreast of breaking news.

More news of holding company slow-downs: Publicis Groupe does not intend to make “major acquisitions in the months to come,” CEO Maurice Levy told CNBC, last week, in response to a question about the company’s strength in emerging markets.

The company is currently in negotiations for future acquisitions in markets, such as China and India, but these businesses would be “comparatively limited” and added “just to strengthen our current operations,” Levy said.

Also, Levy noted that emerging markets are still on the rise by approximately 7 or 8 % and digital is “still [in]double digit growth.”  The growth in these two areas, according to Levy, will help bolster the company against the downward spiral of traditional media and “mature economies.”

This report aligns with Levy’s previously cautious predictions for difficulties in early 2009, reported by PRWeek.

Cisco Systems is planning to carve out a greater name for itself in the consumer electronics category with the of new technologies at the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.

The product line, set to debut at CES, is currently under embargo, but Jim Brady, senior manager of PR for Cisco, hinted that “what we’re showcasing at CES are new technologies that leverage [an] Internet-based network as the platform of a new age of connecting consumers. . . The consumer electronics landscape [is] very much a device centric environment, what Cisco’s aim is to enable a new connected life, by more visual and social [components].”

Brady emphasized the importance of CES as a way for media, analysts, and key influencers to “experience” these products and discuss Cisco’s plans for the consumer electronics space.

Currently, the company’s consumer-facing business is less than 10%, according to Brady, but the company has plans for expansion.

“Before the greater part of the 1990s, Cisco established itself and really transformed the enterprise sector. And, over the course of the last seven or eight years, [the company began] the same thing within the telecommunications service provider market. We, too, believe that talking about [these] products will begin the same transformation in the consumer space,” said Brady.

Leading up to CES, Cisco’s PR tactics have included media outreach and briefings with analysts. For PR, Cisco currently works with Text 100.