The good news is, an Internet coupon offering went viral for Kmart. The bad news is that it wasn't supposed to.

Cue the face-palms as executives for Sears Holdings Corp. (SHLD), parent of Kmart, decide the best method for damage control after at least one Kmart store manager allegedly accused a customer of fraud when attempting to use what appeared to be, or should have been, a legitimate store coupon.

DreamWorks Animation (DWA) has an animated film coming to the the multiplexes next week. It's called How to Train Your Dragon. I have no idea what it's about (aside from the fact that it obviously involves training dragons). But I do know that a marketing transaction with Walmart (WMT) is making headlines.

According to a press release, Walmart and DreamWorks Animation apparently have come up with a very tightly coordinated plan to promote the project. There will be special sections dedicated to Dragon inside the stores. More than 100 licensed items will be lining the shelves. And some sort of event featuring a Viking vessel in Times Square will see what it can do to get potential ticket buyers interested in the flick.

Is Yahoo!'s grip on the internet slipping? No sooner does this writer tackle that ongoing question than the company's top moneymaker announces she's resigning.

Yahoo!'s Joanne Bradford has announced that she's leaving the stagnant internet company for Demand Media. Seeing as though Bradford was going to be a key player in Yahoo!'s burgeoning partnership with Microsoft (MSFT), this leaves yet another gaping hole in Yahoo!'s revenue strategy.

Can Tiger Woods' sexual transgressions actually be turned into a marketing opportunity for Nike (NKE) -- his largest sponsor, the company that seems to be the biggest financial victim of his fall from grace?

The Golfer's Warehouse is hoping so.

An email sent to subscribers and an ad placed on the company's website proclaims: "Welcome Back Tiger! Get Free Ground Shipping on All Nike Items. No Minimum Purchase. Through March 17th (Midnight CDT)."

In my columns, I usually focus on new technologies that can help boost your business. But sometimes the old-fashioned approaches can still work quite well.

Yes, this includes mailers.

OK, it's true that people still throw away much of their mail (and, it even looks like the U.S. Postal Service will cut back on its deliveries). But if a mailer is done right, you can get a nice return on your investment.

Rumor has it that Tiger Woods has started to brush up on his game a bit and some of golf's greats believe that he will be playing in the Masters. If, and when, he returns, Tiger will be a little lighter in the sponsorship arena, what with AT&T (T), Accenture (ACN), and PepsiCo's (PEP) Gatorade all having ended their sponsorship deals with Tiger.

Fear not though, Tiger is making enough money that he can actually turn down sponsors. Reportedly, an Irish bookie -- Paddy Power (awesome name) -- has made a $75 million offer to sponsor Tiger over the next five years.

Apple (AAPL) has shown that a locked-down, incredibly easy-to-use wireless handset like the iPhone is precisely what customers want. Even with all the limitations the iPhone seemingly has, it "just works" -- and that's what tech-overwhelmed consumers want. Is Apple so fearful of its secrets and products under development that its suppliers are acting Orwellian? Sure.

This Reuters article is as accurate as anything that's turned up recently about how Apple's super secrets are kept until a product is announced on launch day. Suppliers and outsourcers are kept in the dark in many ways, employees are treated like spies and even mild violence can occur sometimes. For all the good press Apple receives, is this the way its suppliers are told to operate -- like clandestine nuclear arms operators? To protect all things Apple, apparently so.

Yes, you read that title right. McDonald's (MCD) has just penned a deal with Weight Watchers (WTW) in New Zealand. The agreement will give McDonald's the right to associate the Weight Watchers logo with some Weight Watcher approved fast food items by including that logo on McDonald's menu boards and some other items.

A report from The Sydney Morning Herald indicates that some nutritionists and doctors are already raising concerns about the new marketing ploy. The report quotes Boyd Swinburn, from the Australian Society for the Study of Obesity at Deakin University, as stating, "Make no mistake, this is about selling more burgers and fries." Imagine that, a marketing strategy aimed at increasing sales. Someone needs to explain that concept to Mr. Swinburn.

Sprint Nextel (S) will again be using its CEO to try and explain to potential customers why they should choose the beleaguered telecom provider for their wireless calling and data needs. Using the marketing catchphrase "Our $69.99 is worth more than their $69.99," Sprint CEO Dan Hesse will be featured in a new advertising campaign to explain why Sprint offers so much more value for each customer's money than its two larger competitors, AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless.

Not long ago, marketing was fairly simple for local businesses. You would place an ad in the Yellow Pages. There may even be an occasional mailer and sponsorship.

But of course, things have gotten more complicated lately as customers increasingly use the Internet. Unless you are a marketing expert, you'll probably have trouble handling things like dealing with the hundreds of local search engines and directories, the need to write strong copy, bidding effectively on key search terms and even putting together compelling videos.

Magic Johnson is in talks to acquire Johnson Publishing Co., the parent company of magazines Jet and Ebony, as well as Fashion Fair Cosmetics.

An executive for the company confirmed to Bloomberg that there have been "discussions." A spokesman for Johnson told Bloomberg that the chairman of the company, Linda Johnson Rice, "has never talked to Magic Johnson with respect to his interest in buying."

Toyota (TM) has been all over the news thanks to brake problems and subsequent recalls, and now the company is launching a bit of damage control.

Tuesday, Toyota had to recall 440,000 Prius and other hybrids thanks to brake problems, pushing the company's total global recall to 8.5 million cars and trucks. During the new conference, the company stated that it will "regain the confidence of our customers," trying to start a bit of damage control.

At the same time Yahoo! (YHOO) has taken a different road. It chose to offer display ads on search pages. The ads component added to its revenue stream in 2009, making it number one.

Facebook wants to take over the display advertising on its larger-than-life social network. In the process, it will stop using Microsoft (MSFT) to display the majority of advertising at what is becoming one of the most heavily-trafficked pieces of Internet real estate globally.

Is Microsoft angry? It should be -- every time the world's largest software company crafts some small way to try and compete with Internet advertising leader Google (GOOG), the rugs gets pulled from under it.