Mrs. Butterworth's First Name is Revealed

The Pinnacle Foods Group plans to announce on Thursday morning the long-unknown given name of Mrs. Butterworth, the make-believe character for whom Mrs. Butterworth's syrup is named. The mysterious first name is Joy.

Mrs. Butterworth's was introduced, sans given name, in 1961, and is now owned by Pinnacle, which also owns the Log Cabin syrup brand among other pantry staples. Pinnacle sponsored a contest among consumers to guess the character's first name and the winners are being announced along with the name: A 15-year-old from Logansport, Ind., Shayla Doty, and a 44-year-old from Champaign, Ill., Cynthia Harmon.

The winners each receive $500 and a year's supply of Mrs. B's syrup. The contest is among many being sponsored by consumer-product marketers to stimulate interest in venerable brands.

Google adds options as search engine race continues (AFP)

AFP - Google on Thursday rolled out search engine refinements as Microsoft strives to lure people to Bing and Twitter heightens appetites for real-time updates and news.