Thursday, April 10

Anyone Got a Mr. T Webcam?

A celebrity's name/likeness can be a powerful brand, applied to fashion lines, perfume fragrances, gourmet food, even wines.

But sometimes all that fame can go to their heads. For instance, there was a lot of buzz last year when the Kevin Federline Search Engine launched. Yes, a search engine "hosted" by a celebrity.

In reality it was a promotion stunt. Search through this engine (powered by Google and Ask) and have a chance to win Kevin Federline paraphenalia. Your keyword search is your cost of entry. The chance you will click on a sponsored link in the results is the promotion company's ROI.

It must have worked, because they now have a wide variety of celebrity-branded search pages including Kiss, Mandy Moore, Barry Manilow, and even the Indianapolis Colts.

Kanye West just announced the launch of his travel site. Yes, a travel booking site hosted by a celebrity.

I can just see the spoiled brats of Hollywood badgering their parents. "But Mom, Tori Spelling's daughter got a video-sharing portal for her birthday. I want one tooooooo! And not one of those lame widgets that you gave us for Christmas."

At least Angelina and Brad's kids have a head start. They registered 24 domain name versions of their names just in case. Suri Cruise wasn't so lucky.

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