You (well, some of you) asked for it, PepsiCo is now responding. After a 12-year absence, PepsiCo is reintroducing Mountain Dew to Britain in the coming weeks, backed by a major social media launch campaign. But even before the first green bottles appear on shelves, industry observers are wondering: if a core of die-hard fans can bring back a forgotten brand like Mountain Dew, what else might the people want next?

Social media was once seen as the death knell of traditional media. But, as Betty White’s triumphant performance on Saturday Night Live earlier this month showed, it just might save the tired old telly, giving the mainstream public something to talk about.

Yesterday was a rare good day for British Airways. It won a court order barring planned walkouts by cabin crew this summer that would again threaten to unleash travel chaos on already weary travelers. It could be a temporary victory as the union, Unite, vows to fight the ruling. But BA should take comfort in one fact: it’s proactive approach during weeks of travel uncertainty have boosted its online following.

If you’ve ever spent any time in Seoul or Tokyo you’ll have no doubt seen the locals flashing their mobiles to hunt around for last-minute shopping bargains, the details of which were beamed to their screens as they stood feet from the retailer, or using the handset to pay for anything from a carton of milk to cab fare. And this was years before the iPhone and the resulting apps economy explosion. Now, in 2010, is it possible the West is finally catching up?

Google launched in the U.S. earlier this year its own iPhone killer, the Nexus One Android. The launch plan centered on a bold step: selling the handset direct via its online shop.

Last month, McDonald’s created waves by hiring its first-ever head of social media, tapping a PR veteran to the post to tackle customer relations and blogger outreach, plus various marketing efforts. Big charges are afoot yet again for the $22 billion brand.

My FT.com subscription lapsed some time ago and I’ve been on the fence for some time now about renewing it. I’m reminded of this fact this morning seeing the new video demo for the FT iPad app. The FT has set up a free grace period for its app users through July, giving UK subscribers a bit more than a month at best to test the FT iPad app and make up their mind whether or not to shell out a few quid a month for a digital version of the newspaper.

Amid the recent rash of Pampers diapers social media stories a new conversational project by rival brand Huggies has got somewhat lost in the mix

Jeremiah Owyang of Altimeter Group recently delivered a presentation on what he calls his “four laws of social business.” And, yes, there are more than four laws to heed, but these should correct some of …

And, by the same measure, could McDonald’s Facebook fan page only be worth $260,000, or about 1/100th the value of Starbuck’s? That’s the lopsided assessment of Atlanta-based Vitrue, a social media marketing agency that has developed a whizzy calculator that spits out a value for a brand’s social media presence.