Entertainment Tie-ins / Licensing

In a move to generate online traffic and pre-orders for the upcoming release of Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never documentary, Walmart.com this week offered autographed copies of the DVD/Blu-Ray combo pack for $24.96. Bieber personally autographed 1,800 copies of the combo-pack, which chronicles his rise to become a pop phenomenon. The strategy appeared to work as by mid-day Thursday the autographed copies were no where to be found on Walmart.com, although there was plenty of other Bieber paraphernalia.

AUSTIN, Texas and WASHINGTON -- Whole Foods Market announced that it is teaming up with AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Festival, the nation's leading documentary festival, to award $50,000 in grant money to filmmakers working in the green film genre.

The Target brand was a big winner over the weekend, as Dario Franchitti piloted the number10 car of Target Chip Gansassi Racing to victory in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The race through the streets of downtown St. Petersburg, Fl, consisted of 100 laps over a 1.8 mile, 14 turn course, and the distinctive red and white Target car was featured extensively during television coverage. To watch highlights of the race, click here.

NEW YORK -- Barnes & Noble has announced a partnership with Nickelodeon that will bring the first-ever digital books from the number-one entertainment brand for kids. The books will feature such Nickelodeon characters as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer available in digital format through the Nook Color Reader’s Tablet (www.nookcolor.com) and the free Nook Kids for iPad application (www.nookkids.com/ipad and www.itunes.com/appstore).

CLEVELAND — American Greetings is making kids' birthday cards extra special with its Surprise Inside line.

Each Surprise Inside card features a surprise gift pouch inside that the child can open to reveal a small toy that coordinates with the card's theme, the company said. A sticker reveals to the sender what the secret gift will be.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill.  -- Kenmore announced that it has launched an online reality series, "So You Wanna Be a Designer."

For six weeks the reality show will stream live on Kenmore's Facebook page to show budding designers at work, making their dreams a reality. Through the series, contestants will learn how to navigate the barriers of entering the design world: how to create and launch a brand, and how to price, present and promote designs successfully, among other things.

Recently I had one of the most immersive, exciting shopping experiences ever. I got to play with a bunch of cool products and to engage with employees and other shoppers who had similar tastes and interests as mine. The experience whetted my appetite for more products and I left totally pumped up about several brands. I told several people about my experience and they wanted to go check it out themselves. 

NEW YORK  -- Barneys New York has announced that Carine Roitfeld will collaborate on its women's fall 2011 campaign. Roitfeld will serve as guest editor and stylist working alongside celebrated photographer Mario Sorrenti and Barneys New York creative director, Dennis Freedman, to create the campaign, the company reported.

According to the company, the company will celebrate Roitfeld's iconic style and will feature looks displayed in the windows at Barneys' Madison Avenue flagship store.