Business Diary: The perfect product placement?

Kentucky Fried Chicken employs some bright folks in its marketing department. How best to launch its "fiery wings" meal, they wondered, before noticing reports about town councils across the US being short of funds to install new fire hydrants. Enter KFC, which is paying for the hydrants on the condition it gets to advertise its fiery wings on them.

Free garlic bread for Simon Cowell?

Who is responsible, almost single-handedly, for transforming the fortunes of Britain's takeaway pizza giants? Step forward Simon Cowell. Papa John's reports storming sales during the final three months of last year, as Britons stayed in to watch the telly (its best day of trading ever came on the Saturday of the final of X Factor). Domino's Pizza, meanwhile, credits its sponsorship of Britain's Got Talent for its latest 15 per cent sales increase.

150 years old but still absolutely delicious

Breaking news from the National Federation of Fish Friers. It has pinpointed 1860 as the year that fish and chips was invented (or at least sold together for the first time) and therefore declared 2010 the 150th anniversary of Britain's national dish. The NFFF says fish and chips were sold first by one of two family shops – either the Malins from London, or the Lees from Manchester.

Even bankers think they should pay

A survey published yesterday by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment reveals 61 per cent of financial services staff think the tax on bankers' bonuses is unjustified. Or, to put that another way, almost 40 per cent of bankers themselves think they ought to be coughing up.

Street View catches Spanish kerb crawler

When Google launched its Street View application last year, there was an outcry amongst those who think it is an invasion of privacy. That campaign has just secured a new recruit – the Spanish driver whose pictures are currently doing the rounds on the internet. Stills from Street View seem to show him in the process of picking up a prostitute on a road outside Barcelona.

Number of the day: $23.3bn

The potential cost of legislation for a bailout of Kuwaiti banks, passed by the country's parliament yesterday.

businessdiary@independent.co.uk