Entertainment Tie-ins / Licensing

More than 1,200 leaders from the toy and baby products industries gathered at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York to celebrate the 2014 Toys “R” Us Children’s Fund Gala.

In a case of art imitating life, Walmart stores are featuring a pallet display of paperback books featuring a fictional cowboy who competes in the real world Professional Bull Riders organization led by a former Walmart executive.

Budweiser's limited-edition red, white and blue cans and bottles have started arriving on store shelves just in time for Memorial Day. The packaging also marks the brand's commitment to assisting military families: Budweiser and its wholesaler family will donate more than $3 million to the Folds of Honor Foundation.

Golfer Blayne Barber will partner with C9 by Champion, Target’s exclusive line of activewear, while competing on the Web.com Tour this season. The 24-year-old Lake City, Fla., native joins a roster of 12 other athletes supported through Target’s athlete program, and is the first to represent the C9 by Champion brand.

H-E-B and men's grooming brand Axe have partnered with the X Games to launch an innovative shopper marketing promotion that will reward consumers with an exclusive performance by X Games athletes at local H-E-B stores.

Skechers USA has signed hall-of-fame quarterback legend Joe Namath to represent the high-performing men’s Relaxed Fit from Skechers footwear line. A new advertising campaign featuring Namath will begin in the fall.

“Broadway” Joe’s campaign launches with a new television commercial utilizing the same humorous tone set by spots for Relaxed Fit footwear featuring Joe Montana and Mark Cuban. The campaign will extend across all media with Namath appearing in print, outdoor, online and point-of-sale materials through 2015.

3M brand Post-it is sponsoring Startup Weekend, a program through the nonprofit UP Global that helps entrepreneurs launch their businesses in one weekend.

As part of this sponsorship, Post-it Brand will provide products to approximately 300 Startup Weekend events throughout the United States. Through this partnership, the Post-it brand will play a vital role in the idea-building and sharing processes among the event participants.

LeBron James has teamed up with Sprite to change the game off the court for four people via a social media contest.