Funny thing today at the newsstand: The conservative New York Post, helmed by conservative Rupert Murdoch, gave what appears to be a stunning endorsement of Barack Obama on their cover, despite the fact that the paper already officially endorsed John McCain.
So what gives? Early defeat and a zap to reality, à la The Drudge Report a couple weeks back? Or was Murdoch been increasingly in the tank for Obama, but afraid to show support against his party lines until it was reasonable safe (i.e. had cold facts to back it up) to do so?
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Elisabeth Hasselbeck was invited to introduce Sarah Palin at Florida rallies over the weekend, presumably because the McCain camp knows Lissy is the best attack dog available who still believes the nonsense the right wing has been spewing. This time around she defended Palin's wardrobe, saying it doesn't matter how much money she spends as long as she wears that tiny flag pin, the sign of a good president or vice president. This was an obvious dig at Barack Obama, who is clearly a terrorist who wants to blow up America because he chose not to wear the flag pin. Genius, this lady. The most laughable aspect of this is Elisabeth's hypocrisy, claiming that Democrats refuse to focus on the REAL ISSUES when day after day she sits on The View and spews that Bill Ayers/terrorist agenda.
Forget the "just a matter of time" Obama endorsements from liberal mainstays the New York Times and the Washington Post. Those rags were in the tank since '04. For a real barometer for America's political attitudes, check out the Bryan-College Station Eagle's endorsement of the Democratic ticket. Things are finally so bad that even Texas hate communities that usually loathe any African American who can't score a touchdown are betting on black!
Put this on your fourth cheeseburger, Limbaugh.
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It's not surprising that the Washington Post is endorsing Barack Obama this election. What is surprising is the time frame they decided to do it in: only half an hour after The Chicago Tribune came out with their own endorsement for the candidate, and four hours after the Tribune's sister paper, the LA Times, came out with a similar editorial.
For both the Tribune and Times, it marked the first time the papers have supported a Democratic nominee for the White House. The WP, a little less so, they've historically gone left. But the question remains: why the domino effect of endorsements on a Friday afternoon, after the morning/week's copies have already come out?
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Speedo. Visa. Kellogg's. PowerBar. Omega. Argent Mortgage. Matsunichi Communication Holdings. And, unofficially, NBC. Michael Phelps has endorsement deals coming out the wazzz, and now there's a mini-competition among all of his sponsors to exploit him to the fullest. Phelps is pulling in somewhere in the low eight figures from all his sponsorship arrangements — some estimate he could be worth $50 million to Nike — thanks to Speedo plastering its logo near his junk, Kellogg's putting him on the front of Frosted Flakes, and Visa spitting out spots faster than Americans are sinking into credit card debt. But most of the spots are quite terrible. This one, for flexible private jet ownership firm Citation Shares, falls somewhere on that scale between "clever and on target" and "predictable and gauche." Just look to the sweatshirt Phelps is wearing to find out which category we ended up putting him in.
Despite Barack Obama secretly meeting with Rupert Murdoch, and despite the New York Post's semi-recent turn to support Hillary Clinton, the News Corp. tabloid has gone ahead and "enthusiastically" endorsed John McCain for president. Not that the Post is ready to pour cement shoes for Obama: "None of this implies an iota of disrespect toward Obama. It took a formidable candidacy to defeat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton - a candidacy, by the way, which we strongly supported earlier this year. And the intelligence, the organizational skills and the ability to communicate that Obama demonstrated from the beginning dramatically underscore the history that is being made by the first African-American to head a major-party presidential ticket."
World's Greatest Athlete and upcoming television star Michael Phelps isn't the only one capitalizing on his Olympic fame. And thank god for that! For instance, while Phelps shuns Wheaties, the cereal maker selected gold medal-winning gymnastics champ Nastia Liukin to slap on its box. And Liukin — whose name, unfortunately, could be confused with "nasty looking," though she certainly is not — isn't stopping there. CONTINUED »
So you can't get this body through diet, exercise — and supplements?
Christian Boeving is, in our mind, the real life Brooke Wyndham, the fictional exercise queen from Legally Blonde, whose alibi for the murder of her husband is a liposuction procedure she needs to keep quiet or risk losing her entire empire.
But in this case, Boeving is a real person, and a real fitness model, and he was, until recently, the spokesman for Iovate Health Sciences' dietary supplements, including Hydroxycut.
That was until he admitted, on camera, that he took steroids. The camera he acknowledged this tidbit to was filming for the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster, which was screened at Sundace in January.
Granted, Boeving's steroid use was doctor-prescribed, but Iovate isn't in the business of hashing out details; they're in the business of public perception that their product works all by itself. So they fired Boeving. CONTINUED »
As Dolly Parton says, "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap." For Lauren Conrad, it takes a lot of handlers, merchandising experts, and red carpet appearances. The reality starlet has big plans for herself, taking the path of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in turning her TV fame into retail dollars. At least she's not kidding herself: Most of her dollars come from endorsement deals, with guarantee an upfront fee and a cut of sales from whatever she's pushing.
She's on board with a toy company, a leather-goods maker and a cosmetics line. But her true passion is fashion, and it's in that world she hopes to make a name for herself. Which is why Conrad, who you'd think will accept any cheque made out to her name, actually refused one retailer's overtures to slap her name on a clothing line — because she wouldn't have any creative input!
Those two months in Paris and interning for a TV version Teen Vogue will NOT be wasted, even if she can't spell "beret."
If baseball fields can name their stadiums after corporate sponsors who send millions in naming rights their way, why not hospitals? An Ohio hospital renamed itself Nationwide Children’s Hospital when the insurance company Nationwide wrote a $50 million cheque. They also named the lobby after two retailers who sent in seven figures. And now they're offering the name of its emergency and trauma unit to Abercrombie & Fitch, the sexualized clothier who's paying $10 million for the privilege.
And though the gift might go a long way toward improving the health of children, plenty of outspoken groups are furious the hospital would sell itself to a company many think is a glorified child porn ring. Some 15 organizations don't want the unit named after a company who has shirtless male models, who might still be in high school, greet store customers, or a company who began re-publishing its quarterly magazine that sells apparel with models who don't wear any.
Nevermind that UCLA named its children's hospital after toy company Mattel, and Rhode Island Hospital slapped Hasbro's name on its own kids' unit; nobody cried foul there. Of course it was Mattel who had to recall nine million Chinese-made toys that contain lead and magnets that could harm children if swallowed. Good thing they have their own children's hospital.
It's a far cry from a beefcake campaign for Emporio Armani underwear, but David Beckham has to afford his wife's shopping habits somehow. So here's his latest endorsement: Sharpie. From what we understand, Becks isn't appearing in any of the spots, just lending his name, which hopefully means Newell Rubbermaid got him on the cheap. Actually, says Sharpie's publicist, Beckham will appear in future spots; these are just teasers. If all goes according to our hopes and dreams, the upcoming ads will have a conspicuously placed marker by his bits and pieces.
TOP GLADIATOR Ex-gay porn star and American Gladiators at large Militia nabbed an endorsement deal with
HeadBlade razors. As a former actor in the physical arts, Miltia knows a lot about shaving. [Queerty]
Last night we were heading to Queens. Usually, en route to that borough, we think about all the national cuisines we could eat and how weird everything is, but sometimes our thoughts turn to politics.
And we were thinking about John Kerry endorsing Barack Obama, and we were thinking it’s not so awesome. CONTINUED »
Editorial Director
