ESPN - USA - Michael Phelps proved he is the Olympic gold standard.


Now he's chasing a different kind of gold -- from corporations. And the question out there is whether Phelps can prove he's worth as much (if not more) out of the pool as he is in it.

Entering the Beijing Games, Phelps was reportedly earning an estimated $5 million annually from corporate endorsements, with deals from companies like AT&T, Visa, PowerBar, Omega and Speedo. Now that he's won eight gold medals, breaking Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record of seven in one Olympic Games, many in the sports marketing industry believe Phelps' corporate income could

AXcess News - Carson City,NV,USA - New York - Britney Spears was nominated for this year's MTV Music Video Awards after the singer bombed on stage last year, suggesting that her popularity is still strong with music fans, having gone from ditz to blitz as Britney makes her comeback.

Britney was in fact nominated three times for this year's MTV Music Video Awards, which includes Best Female, Best Pop Video and the coveted Video of the Year.

Last year, Britney Spears lipsinked her music video "Gimmie More" and bombed terribly.  But the pop singers fans flocked to her music with her new video for "Piece of Me", voting

About - News & Issues - New York,NY,USA - Politicians curry favor with celebrities because the latter often possess both money and influence. And, sometimes, politicians makes friends with celebrities because... well, they're actually friends.

Chicagoans Oprah Winfrey and Barack and Michelle Obama have been genuine friends for many years, long before the Democratic presidential nominee held White House aspirations.

But there's no denying that Oprah possesses an abundance of both money and influence. In fact, Time magazine named Oprah as one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, and her extraordinary influence continues unabated in the 21st century. And several publications claim that Oprah has been the

Phoenix New Times, AZ - Surrounded by autographed guitars and gold records, twelve aspiring rock legends took up their plastic axes in Hard Rock Cafe to compete in the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith Rocks the Hard Rock contest. With a chance to fly to Boston and meet Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler (not to mention scoring his Red Wing Motorcycle) on the line, these video game virtuosos tried to out-rock the competition in the newest version of the popular rhythm-based video game.

Guitar Hero debuted in November of 2005, introducing the concept of musical instrument-shaped peripherals to the home console market. Since then Guitar Hero has had

Wall Street Journal Blogs - New York,NY,USA - The impact of celebrity endorsements in political races is hard to nail down, but economists at the University of Maryland think they have it figured out.

When media mogul Oprah Winfrey broke from her past tradition of staying out of politics and endorsed Barack Obama last year, there was much debate over how much Winfrey’s nod would benefit the Illinois senator in his race against former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton.

According to a study by university economists Craig Garthwaite and Tim Moore, it added about 1,000,000 votes to Obama’s column in the contested primary battle.

“We find her endorsement had a positive effect

New York Times - United States - EARLY last year, marketing executives at Totes Isotoner, a Cincinnati company that had spent the previous 30 years churning out a reliable lineup of humble umbrellas, crowded around a computer and listened to a teenage singer from Barbados named Rihanna breeze through a tune titled, appropriately, “Umbrella.”

The song, not yet released, had commercial, jingle-ready lyrics and a stick-in-your-head hook: “You can stand under my umbrella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh.” Totes, which hadn’t deployed celebrity endorsements since the former N.F.L. quarterback Dan Marino hawked its gloves more than a decade earlier, was smitten. “Umbrella” became a corporate rallying cry, with

Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA - It simply wasn't enough for the ladies from "Sex and the City" to have the top-grossing movie this past weekend. Now, yet another "SATC" alum has her sights set on making it big in fashion.

Belk department store announced Monday that actress Kristin Davis, who portrayed Charlotte York in the HBO series, will launch an exclusive, self-titled brand of clothing at the store this fall.

The North Carolina-based retailer will sell Kristin Davis apparel, sleepwear, handbags and more at 125 stores and online at Belk.com. The line has been described as a modern, feminine take on merchandise such as dresses, knits and

Wall Street Journal Blogs - New York, NY, USA - Just when you thought there were no more uncommitted celebrities left in the Democratic presidential race, Puerto Rico’s cross-over hit making pop star Ricky Martin announced today that he supports Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Puerto Rico holds its primary Sunday. In a statement, five-time Grammy winner Martin said this election holds “historic repercussions” and said he supports Clinton because of her record with the Latino community.

“Whether fighting for better education, universal health care and social well-being, as first lady and senator from New York — representing millions of Latinos –she has always fought for what is most important for our families,” he

Forbes - NY, USA - Lacey Rose and Tom Van Riper Oh, the risks of celebrity endorsers.

Upscale clothier Christian Dior (other-otc: CHDRF.PK - news - people ) is the latest company to learn that lesson, dropping Sharon Stone as the pitchwoman for its skin care line in China after the actress publicly blamed the devastating earthquake there on the "bad karma" that comes from the country's dismal human rights record in Tibet.

Stone has plenty of company, of course. For every Tiger Woods, there's a Kobe Bryant. Following allegations that the Los Angeles Lakers basketball star and popular shiller sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman, he was

Adweek - New York, NY, USA - Actor Charlie Sheen, known for his antics in and out of clothes, will appear in a TV ad campaign with Michael Jordan for Hanes underwear starting next month.

Two spots, via IPG's The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va., will debut on June 2 during the NHL finals on NBC. They will also air later in the week during the NBA finals and Nascar coverage on ESPN.

In both spots, Sheen is featured as a dedicated Jordan fan that finds out he is wearing the same brand of underwear as the basketball celebrity.

One spot, called "Phone Toss," shows Sheen running up to Jordan's car

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.

ABC News - Cate Blanchett is used to costumes bordering on disguise on the big screen layers of thick white makeup for her star turn in the "Elizabeth" movies, or a wig and leather jacket for her portrayal of a young Bob Dylan in the upcoming "I'm Not There."

But it's still surprising to picture her serving breakfast at home wearing an actual mask. Donning a white cotton, full-face moisturizing cover akin to a soft hockey mask is part of her skin care ritual, says Blanchett, who has been hired as the U.S. face of SK-II, a high-end skin care line from Procter &

AHN - USA - Starting this September former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Molly Shannon will be this year's spokesperson for Life Insurance Awareness Month, an industry wide campaign coordinated by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation.

Shannon plans on sharing her story about when at the age of four, she was in a car accident that took the lives of her 33-year-old mother, her cousin and younger sister and badly injured her father who could not work for several years. Today Shannon believes life insurance is a necessity for people to help alleviate the financial struggles that can face families in times of tragedy.

Quoted in a

Digital Spy - UK - Reese Witherspoon has become the unlikely face of cosmetics brand Avon.

The Oscar-winning actress is the company's first "global ambassador" and one of its first big celebrity signings.

She said she was impressed by its reliable image and policy of using members of the public to sell to friends, families and neighbours.

She commented: "I feel like Avon is amazing to create these opportunities for women to create incomes for their families.

U.S. News & World Report - Washington, DC, USA - Backstage at Lincoln Center, stagehand Adam Lewis was multitasking. Fiddling with a soundboard, he was also trying to snag autographs from his new favorite food celebrities, waiting to be honored at the 20th anniversary James Beard Foundation Awards ceremony. "This is going right up there next to Beyoncé and Metallica," said Lewis, clutching his official program, covered with signatures from chefs like Bobby Flay of the Food Network's Boy Meets Grill. "These people are on the money."

With the help of that cable network and other cooking shows like Bravo's reality show Top Chef, chefs are emerging from behind the kitchen

United Press International - USA - Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon is an Avon Lady, becoming the company's first Global Ambassador, Avon Products announced at its New York headquarters.

In the newly established role, Witherspoon will be the honorary chairwoman of the Avon Foundation, which focuses on breast cancer, domestic violence and emergency relief initiatives, the company said Wednesday in a news release.

Witherspoon will serve as the spokeswoman for Avon's beauty brands as well as be involved in product development and be featured in Avon advertising, Web sites and marketing collateral.