This post is part of our Battle of the Brands feature. Let us know which brand you prefer, and check out other Battle of the Brands posts.

In this corner, the clown. After years of taking shots to the stomach, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) was thought to be on the ropes, but has found new life in tightened operations, successful product launches, and a new aggressiveness. It's currently in training to take on the coffee-weight champ, Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), in a no-holds-barred battle of the baristas.

In the other corner, the King. Burger King (NYSE: BKC), the burger chain with the creepiest ad campaign on television (what's with the young dude waking up to find the King in bed with him?) has thrived on a two-pronged approach; over-the-top menu items and movie/game tie-ins. BK hit the breakfast market hard with its enormous omelet sandwich, packing a wallop of 730 calories. Its Xbox game tie-in, a cheap game featuring the King was an enormous success, setting a trend that has been widely adopted.

Both chains are thriving as the third of the troika, Wendy's, continues to punch beneath its weight. With a three-year growth of almost 100% in its stock price, though, this bout clearing goes to the clown, on points.

Vote in our poll for McDonald's or Burger King as your preferred brand, and let us know in the comments why you love it.

CNN.com reports that today marks the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death...and still he pulled in some $40 million in 2006. That's second only to that other dead rocker, Nirvana's late, great Kurt Cobain.

There's only one little wrinkle to today's anniversary -- CKX Inc. (NASDAQ: CKXE) -- which owns the rights to Elvis and American Idol -- announced a $1.3 billion leveraged buyout in June. But DealBook reported yesterday that thanks to the seized-up credit markets, the CKX LBO may be just as dead as Elvis.

That's because CKX is trading 25% below the takeout price of $13.75 a share. Evidently, the market believes that come September, CKX will not be able to finance its deal. Regardless of the outcome, CKX will still enjoy the revenue stream from Elvis -- even though he left the building 30 years ago.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in CKX.