A Tribute To Lindsay Lohan’s breasts!

Honestly, we don’t know what to believe about Lindsay Lohan these days. Is she a thief? Is she bisexual? Is she a coke whore? Is she really 24? We know one thing: the tabloids and the paparazzi love her. It’s not hard to see why – her rack could make Justice regain her eyesight. Previously, we showed you her beautiful bombs bouncing out of the courthouse, nowEgotastic has photos of her in a skintight dress outside a Los Angeles courthouse where she’s trying to convince a jury she didn’t steal a necklace from a jeweler. Lindsay! You don’t have to gank necklaces, we’d be more than willing to give you a pearl one! (too much?)

Kurt Cobain’s Lesson: Be Hated for What You Are

I never thought I’d be taking a lesson from Kurt Cobain. After all, the poor man committed suicide at age 27.

But I noticed that today, which would have been Cobain’s forty-fourth birthday, his quote, “I’d rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not” was trending all over Twitter.

While Cobain was loved for who he was—musical genius, rock God—I have lately felt hated for who I am. It’s easy today, what with social media, blogs, and the Internet making it so easy for the anonymous hoards to blast you—for the multitudes to throw the kinds of stones that no one in real life except maybe your best friend or mother would dare to do.

Case in point, my first book, Can’t Think Straight: A Memoir of Mixed Up Love was published in January. The book dealt with my discovery that my fiance, and boyfriend of 10 years, was leading a double life: he had long been having affairs with men behind my back.

I was lucky enough to garner decent press for the book. One article about my book appeared on AOL’s home page. Another article was on Comcast’s home page. I was on The Today Show and The Joy Behar Show. I’m quite proud of these achievements.

But the haters!

I was accused of being “dumb” by a blogger in Dallas who asserted that, because my fiance and I hadn’t quite gotten around yet to making our union legal, I should have somehow known he was two timing with men.

A critic from the Library Journal called me a slut because, after the break, as a single woman dating in New York City for the first time in a decade, I go a little wild. The women on Goodreads.com seem to almost uniformly despise me. (Most dispiriting of all, the majority of the hate came from women.)

Even a neighbor in my building got into the act, giving me a one star review on Amazon primarily, it seems, because I used the building’s listserv to promote my book—which I did one time, not repeatedly, as the anonymous neighbor claims.

Lately, I’ve been thinking how I should have toned down the book. Instead of being honest and admitting that this betrayal made me a bit crazy, and that I reacted by drinking a bit too much, dating a bit too much, and generally trying to put a balm on my anger, confusion, loneliness and hurt in unhealthy ways, I should have lied and said I stayed home, practiced yoga, and meditated. More people would have bought that book. More people would have understood. More people would haveliked me.

But I’d rather be hated for what I am than loved for what I’m not.

Thank you, Kurt Cobain. Everyone being hated on today thanks you.

Irina Shayk

Irina Shayk heats up the cover of the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which was revealed Monday on The Late Show with David Letterman.

The 25-year-old Russia model, who’s dating soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, wore a Sauvage by Elizabeth Southwood bikini with an Ettika bracelet while posing for photographer Bjorn Iooss on the beaches in Hawaii and the Philippines.

“There were 10 models there to do [Letterman's] Top 10 List, and nobody knows until the last minute who the cover will be,” Irina said. “And then I saw it, and I couldn’t believe it.”

Also featured in SI’s 2011 Swimsuit Issue, currently on newsstands: last year’s cover girl Brooklyn Decker, Chrissy Teigen, and Anne V.

FYI: Irina is the magazine’s first Russian cover model and is making her fifth appearance in the annual issue!

What Madonna Can Teach Lady Gaga

 

I’m not sure what made me feel older—the tweet from a twenty-something who noted in amazement that “Gee, Barbra Streisand has some set of pipes,” or the fact that other than the tribute to Aretha Franklin and the appearances by Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan, there wasn’t a whole lot I could relate to while watching last night’s Grammy Awards ceremony, with one major exception. The show made clear that as much as music has evolved over the years, the fact that there are essentially two approaches to building a brand hasn’t. And it was Barbra, pipes and all, along with that gaga lady in the egg who got me thinking about this.

Let me explain. Miss Streisand represents the first type of branding approach wherein you figure out what you want your brand to stand for in the minds of consumers and you consistently deliver on this promise year after year, and decade after decade, not straying too far from the expected executions. Yes, you make some changes to ensure that the brand remains relevant in the marketplace but, essentially, you know what people expect and you meet their expectations with unwavering authenticity. “Evergreen” sounded just as lovely last night as when Barbra first performed it in “A Star is Born.”

On the other hand, there’s the constant reinvention type of branding. Yes, Lady Gaga is known for her quick-change artistry, but it’s not this feisty miss who represents this approach. Instead, it’s a very talented marketing lady who, more or less, invented the category of contemporary reinvention in the contemporary music category—Madonna. Sensing changes in the public’s mood for music, anticipating (creating?) the next trend, Madonna came out with as different and relevant a brand of musical self as she and the market allowed. She was a genius at knowing how not to be too far out in front of the curve, and being able to sense when her current brand of entertainment had run its course, both critical elements in good branding within any category. Equally important, she also knew that, no matter the guise or disguise of the moment, she had to deliver on a core competency—in her case, a genuine talent for song and dance. Without it, no amount of artifice could help her win fans.

A good non-musical analogy to the above is Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Coke continues to build on its reputation as the “real thing,” bringing to life the promise of happiness by way of a “Coke and a smile,” or some related variation on this warm and fuzzy theme. Pepsi’s claim to branding fame is as the “choice of a new generation.” As such, its branding team is always on the lookout for daring and irreverent ways to communicate the Pepsi brand promise. Both products continue to succeed mightily as a result of initiatives that have resonated with their respective audiences but, more so, because their products continue to be gratifying to those who buy them.

As a branding professional, I can tell you that the first approach to building a brand is much easier. You identify how you want consumers to see and think about your offering and you stick pretty close to home in your communication efforts. Being constantly on the lookout for the next new thing can be pretty demanding, key among the challenge not allowing consumers to lose sight of the fundamental brand benefit in the process, which is where Lady Gaga comes in. If she wants to follow Madonna’s route to building her brand, let her have at it. I wish her well. As a classically trained musician she’s a talented lady. She must understand, however, that to succeed in the category as Madonna did, she’ll need to deliver on a core brand competency no matter how many quick changes she makes in an evening. All the quick changes in the world can’t stand up to great brand performance.

Gorgeous Girls of the 2011 Grammy Awards

 

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards took place last night. Lady Antebellum and Arcade Fire took home Record of the Year and Album of the Year respectively last night while Eminem, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Train, The Black Keys, and Rihanna also took home hardware. There were some great performances – most notably Cee-Lo‘s peacock outfit worn during his Muppets rendition of “F*** You” featuring Gwyneth Paltrow and Eminem’s mash-up of Love the Way You Lie featuring Rihanna and Adam Levine blended with I Need a Doctor featuring Skylar Grey and Dr. Dre (one of our Songs of the Week). The ladies looked lovely – with the exception of Lady Gaga who looked like the devil’s daughter with pointy shoulders and mini-horns cropping up on her forehead. Enjoy all the Grammy greatness with this photo gallery of gorgeous girls.

Topless Megan Fox Shows Off Tattoos In New Armani Ad (PHOTO)

Giorgio Armani unveiled some sexy ads starring Megan Fox and Rafael Nadal last week, and now another ad from the campaign is out - featuring topless Megan.

The tattoo on her shoulder blade reads, "We will all laugh at gilded butterflies" - an approximation of a Shakespeare quote.

Megan got the wordy Nietzsche quote inked down her side in honor of Mickey Rourke, her costar in 'Passion Play.' It says, "Those who danced were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."

PHOTO:

What What… Kim Kardashian’s Butt

Kim Kardashian continues to make waves this week. First, she showed off her new, tighter figure in the Skechers commercial during the Super Bowl, then she gets kicked off stage by Prince during his concert at Madison Square Garden. After seeing what can be done with body doubles in the GoDaddy commercial featuring Joan Rivers, many are skeptical as to whether or not it was really Kim’s body in the Skechers ad. There were no claims about her exiting stage left courtesy of Prince, however. Love it or hate it, her backside draws a crowd. We pay tribute to her controversial caboose with this fanny-licious photo gallery.