Celebrity

Throughout the years, Michael Jackson took part in a number of commercials, including one for his own tour.

Click continued for more ads he took part in. E-mail agencyspy at gmail dot come to share your favorites.

More: "The Three Who Died: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon"

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Yesterday began the deaths of three major figures, each of whom played a part in the advertising world throughout their careers. The latest and maybe most relevant is Michael Jackson, who reportedly died earlier today after suffering a heart attack; he was 50. Before him was Farrah Fawcett, who battled cancer for three years before succumbing to it; she was 62. And yesterday we learned of the passing of Ed McMahon who was 86.

Each of these loved personalities lived his or her life in the limelight and as part of their celebrity status were offered advertising opportunities. The ads they took part in stick out in many of our minds (though we're not airing the Pepsi ad where Jackson's hair is lit on fire, for obvious reasons). Jackson and Pepsi, McMahon and Publisher's Clearing House, Fawcett and Noxzema.

Farrah Fawcett/Noxzema

Ed McMahon/Budweiser

The world of online celebrity news gets no more vitriolic than on PerezHilton.com, a site we've mentioned many times before because of the sheer volume of eyeballs it attracts. But the backhanded bitch-slapping Hilton serves up doesn't suit every brand's fancy, and to solve that problem Hilton is starting a new site that's sure to be dull by comparison but a stronger moneymaker.

Along with product placement, the writer will add paid-tweets to his already well-known feed.

The question that arises for us is whether or not his fame will be enough to support the traffic levels advertisers are sure to hope for in this project. My guess is that it won't — since the value of his current site is in the simple paint drawings and, as noted, vitriolic commentary on Hilton's part. Without that, the traffic draw may not be as strong meaning. Unless there's some secret we just don't yet know about.

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More: "Why Advertising on Perez Hilton Beats the Hell Outta TV"

Here's the video of Jimmy Kimmel's speech from this week's ABC upfronts. It plays like a roast of the network, and the all-but-dead TV advertising model. Oops, did I say that? Anyway, the day's nearing its end so give 'er a watch.

More: "Jimmy Kimmel Kicks TV in the Crotch"

Without taking too much of your valuable time, I want to share some memorable comments from ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel's speech at the upfronts yesterday.

"By deciding on their fall schedule in April, Mr. Kimmel said, 'NBC got such a head start, they've already had time to cancel half their schedule.'"

"Returning to ABC's advertisers, Mr. Kimmel said, 'Next year on 'Grey's Anatomy,' your product could kill Dr. Izzie. It just depends on how much you want to pay.'"

"Let's get real here. Let's get Dr. Phil-real here. These new fall shows? We're going to cancel about 90 percent of them. Maybe more."

"Every year we lie to you and every year you come back for more. You don't need an upfront. You need therapy. We completely lie to you, and then you pass those lies onto your clients."

"Next year on 'Grey's Anatomy,' your product could kill Dr. Izzie. It just depends on how much you want to pay."

"I think all our shows are going to work this year. I really do. I don't, really."

"The important thing to remember is: who cares, it's not your money."

"In closing, Mr. Kimmel said, 'I think all our shows are going to work this year. I really do.' He paused. 'I don't, really.'"

There's more here and here.

More: "R.I.P The Upfronts"

Pretty Green and Initials Marketing are probably patting themselves on the back for this piece of work, for Beyonce and Trident. They hired about a hundred female dancers who, according to BrandRepublic, "spontaneously" appeared in London's Picadilly Circus to perform the routine you see above.

It's for Beyonce's upcoming concert and something about Trident. Anyway, it's a lame attempt at reworking T-Mobile at Grand Central (which is posted after the jump, lest you care to see it). The comments on BrandRepub are good enough to eat — check 'em out.

More: "The Most Expensive Online Ad Buy Ever? AOL Teams Up With T-Mobile"

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David Beckham is the latest face for Motorola. Mr. Posh Spice is also the rep for Adidas, Giorgio-Armani, Gillette, and Pepsi. Are we missing anyone? Who cares? Check out that bod. Too bad he's got one of the weirdest voices we've ever heard.

It's going to take a lot more than Beck's butt to overshadow the way more juicy scandal going between former Chief Financial Officer Paul Liska and the cellphone maker. Add to this very public legal battle Motorola's fourth quarter sales figures, which fell by half, and their posting of an operating loss of $595 million and well... ass just ain't going to cut it.

More: Samsung Propel Spot Highlights Ozzy's Inability to Speak

Today, Adweek has an article up about digital shop, Razorfish, getting into the broadcast game for detergent brand, All. If anyone caught that last episode of Celebrity Apprentice (and I'm sure you didn't), you'll recall that the teams were tasked with creating a "viral" video for the brand. The results were pretty mediocre, but whatever. The agency went on to take two of the contestants, Joan and Melissa Rivers, and feature them in Razorfish's first ever broadcast production. You can watch it above.

From the article: "Razorfish has a history in digital media and developing Web sites," said Marc Lucas, executive creative director for Razorfish in New York. "In the last 12 to 18 months, we've made a push to be a marketing services company and being more media agnostic."

All just recently put its creative account into review. While BBH is the incumbent, it ended up goin to Lowe. However, wouldn't it have been rad if Razorfish just snuck in there and took the booty? Forget about whether you like or hate the spot. Isn't just a wee bit exciting to see a digital agency is now just an agency and vice versa? Lines are blurring left and right. Consider that GlobalHue, which has long been billed as the the biggest multicultural agency, won their MGM Grand account as just an agency - serving every color, gender and platform under the sun. Finally - the whole bag of goods is getting mixed up. It's about time.

More: Ultimate Role Model Britney Spears Newest Candie Girl

The world's second-zaniest pop-star Britney Spears is the latest spokeslady for Candie's, a brand sold exclusively in Kohl's. They're also one of the sponsors of Spears' "Circus" tour.

Here's the brand mouthpiece's quotes from Brandweek:

"Dari Marder, chief marketing officer, Iconix Brand Group, owner of the Candie's brand, said: 'Britney is not your average girl, so we didn't want to do an average media buy. We wanted to create an event with the debut of the campaign.'

'The Candie's consumer devours the latest celebrity news and gossip so we thought it would be a unique way to unveil the campaign as an exclusive pull-out poster in Us Weekly. We plan on developing programmes over the course of the year that will continue to deliver exclusive opportunities to our Candie's consumers.'"

Spears' power as a brand is so great that being completely reckless hasn't damaged her ability to make a buck. Not that she needs it, of course. But it's kinda bothersome that despite not being in control of her own finances, her inability to care for her two children and everything else that's become of her life, she's still a valuable icon. I wonder if you can see the strings.

More: "Need Hits? Put 'Britney Spears' on Your Web Site"

Actress, model, farmer? Liz Hurley
apparently has a farm in Gloucestershire, a county in southwest England, and she's going to market "a range of organic food" under the Prince Charles' Duchy Originals brand. Hunh. Who knew.

More: "What The...Elizabeth Hurley’s New Ad Campaign"