Every weekday, PR Daily associate editor Alan Pearcy highlights the day’s most compelling stories and amusing marginalia on the Web in this, #TheDailySpin.

According to Google, the shortest estimated travel time to fly nonstop from Chicago to Tokyo is roughly 12 hours and 20 minutes. Aboard Japan Airlines, the trip will still be about 12 hours and 20 minutes, but at least it might be slightly more savory. This holiday season, the carrier is offering its passengers KFC on select flights between Tokyo and eight U.S. and European cities. Dubbed “Air Kentucky,” the promotion runs Dec. 1 through Feb. 28. Domo arigato.

I bet first-class even gets the Colonel’s new “Festive Feast.”



While we’re visiting Asia, brand marketers ought to take note of South Korea. Advertising Age’s Wayne Arnold explains why the nation’s pop cultural and economic influence goes far beyond the quirkiness of “Gangnam Style.”

There’s no denying an abundance of British influence on American television, and audiences can expect yet another U.S. adaptation of an already popular show from the U.K.’s Julian Fellowes, creator of the period drama “Downton Abbey,” is writing a new show set in 19th century New York titled, “The Gilded Age.” NBC commissioned the show, reports The Telegraph. The pilot episode is already in development.

Meanwhile, Mexico City-based band The Plastics Revolution and filmmaker Art Perez, Jr. have developed what they deem the first music video ever shot entirely with Instagram, using 1,905 photos to create the stop-motion piece.

Dunkin’ Donuts can deem itself the home of the “Best Coffee in America” all it wants, but it can’t do so exclusively after the company’s application to trademark the phrase was rejected earlier this month. As one trademark attorney explained to the Boston Globe, “Anyone at all can claim that their coffee is the ‘Best Coffee in America.’ No one takes such a claim literally, and no one company can monopolize the phrase.”

RELATED: Starbucks introduces its most expensive coffee yet

Now if your consumers want to tout you as the best, far be it from you to argue. That would certainly be the mantra of Taco Bell CMO Brian Niccol, who spoke with Fast Company about launching the brand’s Doritos Locos Taco—now its best-selling new product—and what it taught the chain about letting its customers drive ideas.

Of course, brands have to build a loyal relationship with those customers, too. To help your company prepare for its holiday rush, speaker Shep Hyken suggests these five customer service tips.

For companies or brands unsure of where to begin their holiday marketing this year, MarketingProfs offers five takeaways from the successes of past seasonal campaigns, including Target’s eccentric “Christmas Champ” and OfficeMax’s “Elf Yourself.”

Speaking of past campaigns, a new Facebook promotion by Toys ‘R’ Us reports that 80 percent of kids today don’t know the words to the retailer’s classic jingle, prompting the store’s “I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us Kid – Sing ‘R’ Song Sweepstakes.” The effort invites families to submit video clips of the children singing the 1980s jingle for a chance at a $2,500 shopping spree or other prizes.

RELATED: Toys R Us creates a kid-run news network to tout holiday trends

It appears to be the “Ghost of Christmas Past” haunting FedEx. After almost suffering a PR crisis last holiday season when one of its deliverymen was caught on security footage throwing a computer monitor onto a consumer’s lawn, the company’s festive end to 2012 isn’t looking much better. A Utah truck driver is suing FedEx, alleging that the company fired him because of his Russian accent.

Also looking down are U.S. newspaper ad revenues, which reported a year-over-year drop for the 25th consecutive quarter.

RELATED: How shifting newspaper circ numbers affect PR pros

On a lighter note, BuzzFeed collected 54 of the best Tumblrs started in 2012, funny enough to even get Rupert Murdoch to smile.

Is there something you think we should include in our next edition of #TheDailySpin? Tweet me @iquotesometimes with your suggestions. Thanks in advance.

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