Watch the big diet companies and you might think they're playing a game of who can snag the most high-profile celebrity spokesperson. The latest VIP dieters for hire: Charles Barkley, the NBA pro turned TV sportscaster, who tried Weight Watchers on his own and will now be featured in the company's "Lose Like a Man" campaign which starts the day after Christmas, according to the New York Times. Janet Jackson, meanwhile, was revealed today as the new face of Nutrisystem.Continue reading...

ABC has covered, and re-covered, the multifarious demographic spectrum of America with the "stars" it has selected to appear on its Dancing With the Stars reality competition series over the years. It is part of what has made the show so successful as it enters its 13th season on September 19. But arguably, the network has never selected a specific person almost solely because that star is the most appropriate exemplar of a demographic niche.

Until now. With the naming of Chaz Bono, the transgendered offspring of Sony and Cher Bono, as a contestant in its new cast, ABC has crossed an interesting boundary in the roster of non-professional contestants in its continually appealing dance contest.

It has always sought to fill certain categories that variously appeal to parts of its audience, including hard-bodied professional athletes, determined Olympic champions, comedians, and octogenarians such as Cloris Leachman and Buzz Aldrin.

DWTS also has unblinkingly featured openly or presumedly homosexual contestants such as Lance Bass and paired them with the opposite gender. This isn't to say that "identity politics" or any kind of politics at all have been kept out of the show.Continue reading...

Charlie Sheen attracts 500 new followers per second as he gets ready to bring the crazy to Twitter. Update: he tweeted! And uploaded a twitpic in his first tweet, no less. No word on how Naked Juice and Broguiere's Farm Fresh Dairy chocolate milk feel about being Sheen's "choose your vice" stand-ins.

In other celebranding news:

Bono swoops in to address Spider-Man on Broadway woes.

Bristol Palin is writing a book.

Christina Hendricks pitches Vivienne Westwood.

Emma Watson used as lure for Facebook "clickjacking" scam.Continue reading...

If ever there was a product category that has laid claim to celebrities, it is diet programs. Almost without exception, the big name programs – among them Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, and Weight Watchers – rely on celebrity endorsements to pitch weight loss.

More often than not, a celebrity is shown in before and after fashion, going from obviously chunky to deliciously fit. Kirstie Alley, Valerie Bertinelli, Dan Marino, Jenny McCarthy, Marie Osmond, Lynn Redgrave, and Don Shula have done celebrity endorsements for such programs.Continue reading...

The problem with hitching your brand-wagon to a single star is that sometimes that star falls off his or her own wagon (see: Smith, Anna Nicole and TrimSpa). Such is the case with the chain's Jared "The Subway Diet" Fogle.

On December 1, candid photos of the Subway spokesman were picked up from an obscure message board and begin trickling up. By the end of the day, leading US gossip site Perez Hilton was featuring Subway's diet guru and icon looking... very heavy. Chunky, some might say. The schadenfreude of the websites that published the pictures was thick. If Subway brand managers are not in damage control mode at this very minute, they are in deep trouble.

Jared, who claimed to have lost 245 pounds eating Subway sandwiches, has been a Subway spokesman for years now: last year, the brand celebrated its 10th anniversary with him. Subway continues to rely heavily on him as it pitches its offerings as healthier than the competition. This year Jared has appeared with NFL stars such as Reggie Bush and Brady Quinn.Continue reading...