Guns, sure. But what about knives? Ted Nugent is coming to the rescue of knife owner rights.

The controversial rocker has teamed with gunmaker Wilson Combat to release a special edition Nugent-signature model 1911 handgun, sales of which will benefit the Knife Rights. It's just what the doctor ordered… if by doctor, you mean people who own knives and like handguns.

With the recent highly-publicized knife attack on a Texas campus spurring both jokes and serious talk about "knife control," the Nugent partnership might be perfectly timed.Continue reading...

Has your favorite musician died? Stick around long enough and he or she will surely make an appearance again via hologram. At the rate things are going, and for the right "appearance" fee of course, you may eventually invite your own hologram Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer to perform at your wedding or other private event.

The "virtual performance" business kicked off in April when Dr. Dre debuted a hologram of Tupac Shakur on-stage at Coachella. As Entertainment Weekly notes, that was followed by plans to resurrect Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes for live shows and the re-creation of Elvis for a concert series.

It also got the Jackson family talking about whether they should bring Michael back on the road — after all, he's already on the comeback trail with Pepsi this summer as part of its (ironically) "Live For Now" marketing campaign.Continue reading...

The King may have left the building, but he has not left the branding. Elvis Presley would have turned 77 on Jan. 8 if he could have found a way to survive the massive amounts of lethal drugs and sandwiches he ingested in the years leading up to his death on Aug. 16, 1977 (unless, of course, he really is that guy spotted at the Hare Krishna ranch in Roswell, New Mexico, back in 2008). 

Assuming it's not, this year marks the 35th anniversary of when the King of Rock was found to be unresponsive on his bathroom floor. The world mourned his death then, but it's ready (at least, his estate is ready) to party now.

Graceland will kick off a yearlong celebration on Thursday that will feature a slew of special events, including tribute concerts, according to release from Elvis Presley Enterprises. An annual birthday shindig for Elvis kicks off Thursday and runs through Sunday. That will be followed up by, you guessed it, an Elvis cruise from Jacksonville, Florida, to Nassau, the Bahamas. It’s not Hawaii, but one can bet a few rounds of “Blue Hawaii” will be heard along the way.Continue reading...

Call it A-scare-again Apparel. Continuing with today's Halloween costumes + celebrities (dead or alive) theme, check out Target's Haunted Couture collection designed by Simon Doonan.

In a side-step from his role as creative director and window-dressing savant of Barneys New York (when he's not moonlighting as a writer), Doonan's costumes for Target pay homage to Vegas-era Elvis, Paris Hilton (with a companion paparazzi) and other icons he details here.

This week's dramatic rescue of the 33 Chilean miners is the feel-good mine disaster story of the year. Everyone wants a piece of it, from the miners themselves, who are in some kind of collective agreement, to USA patriots who called the disaster an example of "American greatness."

Brands were also all too eager to let some of those positive miner vibes rub off. Oakley sunglasses received enormous exposure during the rescue, which was engineered with a Panansonic Toughbook. One media outlet estimated Oakley's exposure was worth $41 million.

The post-rescue brandstravaganza has begun. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is sending los 33 a shipment of free iPods. (That the device depends on the copper the miners became trapped trying to extract was lost on nobody everybody.) The group's Elvis aficionado is getting a VIP trip to Graceland. Other brand-donated freebies include soccer shirts, free sushi and "Japanese space underwear."Continue reading...