Client Newswrap: Government sponsors the Simpsons and Harrods mulls legal action

Brands
UK mobile phone firm Orange has secured a deal to sell Apple‘s iPhone in the UK, ending 02‘s monopoly.

A member of the Cadbury family has described Kraft‘s proposed takeover bid as a “horror story” and told the Sunday Telegraph it was worth fighting to keep one of the last British iconic brands from disappearing.

Nestlé has stopped buying milk from Zimbabwean firm Gushungo Dairy Estate that is controlled by Robert Mugabe’s wife, in response to international pressure, although maintains it had not broken any laws in doing so.

PepsiCo, which owns Walkers Crisps, Tropicana and Quaker Oats as well as its famous soft drink, is using footballers Theirry Henry and Frank Lampard in an anti-obesity campaign as part of a government push to promote healthy living.

The Department of Health is also sponsoring The Simpsons on Channel 4 as part of the £75 million Change4Life initiative.

Samsung has donated its LED screen in London’s iconic Piccadilly Circus to the European breast cancer campaign that went live at 11am this morning. The advert calls on passers-by to ‘tell all the women you know to visit www.morethantalk.eu‘.

Retailers
Sainsbury’s is offering its customers double Nectar points on their shopping for two years as part of a bid to promote the retailer’s banking services. Customers who buy certain finance products will earn double the normal amount of points, which is the equivalent of saving 1% of the food bill.

Tesco is set to report underlying sales growth is slower than Sainsbury’s for the fifth consecutive quarter when it published half-year results tomorrow.

Marks & Spencer has delayed reducing its returns policy from 90 to 35 days until after Christmas. Any item bought between now and 11 December can be returned, unused, until 16 January.

Asda chief executive Andy Bond has said he is not interested in succeeding Stuart Rose and chief executive of Marks and Spencer next year.

Luxury retailer Harrods is considering legal action against Dixons.co.uk for its adverts that appear to criticise the retailer. Selfridges and John Lewis appear in similar adverts.

Waitrose has removed adverts from a Fox News programme on Sky after complaints from its customers about a presenter’s comments about US president Barack Obama.

John Lewis is closing two in-store call centres, putting 700 jobs at risk. The move is part of the firm’s cost cutting in response to the economic downturn.

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