Rocky Mountain News - Denver, CO, USA - Raise your glass for a good cause. And your favorite athlete.

In an unusual and surprisingly successful blend of sports and retail philanthropy, a wine company is launching its second vintage of athlete-endorsed wines that raise money for charity.

Since 2007, Boston-based Charity Wines has raised more than $400,000 for various causes through sales of wines bearing the images of athletes such as Manny Ramirez, Cam Neely and Dan Marino.

This year, the company will introduce several dozen new baseball-themed wines, including Santana's Select Merlot (New York's Johan Santana), Cabernet Glavingnon (Atlanta's Tom Glavine) and Vintage Papi (Boston's David Ortiz).

Each bottle sold generates

San Francisco Chronicle - CA, USA - Comedian Larry the Cable Guy has become the unlikely face of weight loss company NutriSystem.

The star, real name Dan Whitney, has lost 50 pounds using the NutriSystem program, and he is so pleased with the results he's decided to help promote the firm in a series of print and TV advertisements.

In a post on his Web site, the comic jokes, "Now I look just like Brad Pitt, only totally different."

The ads will be made public later this month.

InformationWeek - Manhasset, NY, USA - Erm. Huh? RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) is looking for another angle into the consumer market and decided partnering with Will.i.am and his Dipdive online community is the way to do it. If you're left scratching your head at this one, you're not alone. Is a music and politics-themed social community the right angle for RIM?

First off, does celebrity endorsement really sell products? It doesn't do it for me. I don't buy things because some famous person also uses them. I use the phones I use because they do what I need them to do. I use the computers I use because

The Emory Wheel - USA - Monday night’s “O’Reilly Factor” featured a video clip of 50 Cent in a brief in-car interview. When asked why he endorses Sen. Hillary Clinton, he replies: “I think she’ll do a good job.”

The clip cuts to the end of the interview, and as the reporter steps out of the car and thanks “Mr. Cent” for the ride, 50 Cent adds: “I’m not sure America’s ready to have a black president. I think they might kill him.”

Although their endorsements stem from various reasons and issues, dozens of celebrities — from A-listers to D-listers — have publicly announced support for candidates for

The Student Printz - Hattiesburg, MS, USA - No matter whom you are rooting for in the primaries, it's hard to deny the country is clearly divided amongst the candidates and their respective messages.

Although some voters who are still unsure who they should support, many celebrities have made their choice and, of course, we have to hear about it.

This year's elections have seen an unprecedented amount of celebrity A-listers and celebrity D-listers coming out to endorse their favorite candidates, but how much do these endorsements really matter? Does anyone really care about these endorsements? Why are we constantly being bombarded with breaking news bulletins of someone who used

Black Enterprise - New York, NY, USA - When Sean "Diddy" Combs became only the second African American to take home a FiFi award on May 31, many said "What's a FiFi?" It's considered the Oscar of the fragrance world. The FiFi Awards, given out since 1973, are put on annually by The Fragrance Foundation, a non-profit organization, to honor the fragrance industry’s creative achievements. This year, Comb’s Unforgivable scent was awarded Fragrance of The Year in the Men's Luxe category (in a tie with Terre d'Hermès). In fragrance circles, winning a FiFi lends prestige to the brand.

Unforgivable by Sean John, a scent through Estee Lauder, was launched

By Maria Puente, USA TODAY - Just in time for gift-giving season, a growing stack of consumer surveys suggests fewer people are buying wristwatches.
And the reason is pretty clear: Who needs a watch with a cellphone or a BlackBerry always at hand?

"I never liked them anyway," declares Christie Hooks, 30, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official in Columbus, Ohio. "Once I bought a cellphone, I was more than happy to cast them off forever."

So are increasing numbers of consumers, leading to a drop in sales that has watchmakers worried as the holidays approach; wristwatches have long been a popular gift for all ages and both sexes.

The

PaddockTalk - USA - Winning races, a championship and racing side-by-side with other NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers at more than 200 mph each weekend in front of hundreds of thousands of fans and millions of television viewers are just some of the things that excite Jimmie Johnson.

So does returning to his hometown of El Cajon, Calif.

The days leading up to the Sept. 1 and 2 NASCAR races at California Speedway should prove especially exciting for the 2006 Nextel Cup champion and his wife Chandra who plan to host their first charity golf tournament, visit Jimmie’s old high school and watch Jimmie race special paint

Blogging Stocks - USA - After reporting a disappointing decline in second-quarter earnings and sales last week, Macy's (NYSE: M) is pulling out the big guns. Donald Trump and Martha Stewart are just two among a coterie of celebrities being employed in the department-store company's $100 million advertising blitz.

New television spots for Macy's - one of which will debut on September's Emmy-Award broadcast - will also feature R&B singer Usher, Tim Gunn from Project Runway, chef Emeril Lagasse, and hip-hop mogul Sean "Puff Daddy" "P. Diddy" "Diddy" Combs.

Also on the roster as a celebrity endorser for the Cincinnati-based retailer is Jessica Simpson. Seems like a