Nevertheless, brands love spokespeople. Brands need spokespeople to provide that human element that connects with the complex psychology that is consumer behavior. From Donald Trump to Eva Longoria, personal branding is big business, and a dangerous one, because all humans are fallible. But if there were ever a control in the experiment of personal branding, it would be Tim Tebow. The guy is as clean as a bag of cotton balls.

In fact, Tim Tebow’s personal brand is so sterling that even without a job—he has yet to be picked up by an NFL team after being dropped by the New York Jets—his sponsors aren’t worried at all. ESPN, Nike, TiVo, FRS, Fox Sports and Jockey are all on board with whatever happens next in his career, even if it doesn’t include football. Those brands are even lining up to retain his services after he hangs up his cleats. That’s personal branding done well. But there is more to successful personal branding than avoiding mug shots and visiting children in the hospital.

There is authenticity. Tim Tebow lives according to the values he espouses regardless of what his handlers, agents and PR people do. Tim Tebow runs the Tim Tebow show (which is his life), and his fans adore him for it. In a parallel universe, Charlie Sheen fans feel the same way about his personal brand. For some reason, many PR experts struggle with this idea of authenticity. So do young celebrities like Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus; it’s hard to be authentic when you are still wrestling with who you are and the trappings of becoming an adult. continued…

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In fact, the article even got a bit of unsolicited praise from everyone’s least favorite hair-challenged blowhard, Donald Trump. And Deadspin used the opportunity to demonstrate its own frank version of public relations:

Well then! Of course, this quickly inspired Trump to rethink his opinion of the site and the people who run it:

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We were pleased, on some level, to learn that the latest winner, Mallory Hagan, hails from Brooklyn (which is our longtime home, though we can’t claim it as our hometown), but we’re a little confused by her latest WWD interview…

She confirmed that she won’t be attending FIT until another winner is crowned (OK, we get that) but refused to take the opportunity to promote some of her favorite designers, saying:

I will keep that to myself for now. When I’m done being Miss America, I will tell you a myriad of names.

…while listing Forever 21, Zara and H&M as her favorite stores (yeah, right). Then the interviewers asked her a more sensitive question: why will she be wearing only Canadian label Joseph Ribkoff at all of her public appearances as Miss America? We think this is a good question from a PR perspective, but she quickly shut the query down:

“It shouldn’t matter where the clothing comes from,” since her Miss America mission is more about broadening education and empowering women.

The answer: she’s wearing Ribkoff because it was one of the pageant’s main sponsors, along with cosmetics brand Amway Artistry. We don’t mean to go all nationalistic here, but isn’t it a little strange for a Canadian brand to sponsor the Miss America winner, much less the pageant itself? Surely there’s an American brand willing to step up and embrace a great PR opportunity like this one, right?

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Despite the controversy inspired by The Donald’s presidential run, conspiracy theory stunts and Twitter freakouts over the past year or so, Macy’s apparently plans to stand by its (spokes)man. An official company statement called him “important to Macy’s, both as a brand and as an endorser”, noting that his ties are top-sellers.

“The world’s largest store” doesn’t just carry Trump’s clothing and his signature fragrance “Success by Trump”; it also included him in a huge upcoming Christmas ad campaign starring Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, Martha Stewart, Tommy Hilfiger and more in a blatant re-purposing of the holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street.

Yet the man may prove to be more of a liability than Macy’s would like. Signon.org, a subsidiary of political advocacy group Moveon.org that claims to have helped engineer several political PR wins, recently posted a petition urging Macy’s to “Dump Donald Trump”–and as of today, the page has nearly reached its goal of half a million signatures.

The petition statement reads:

“Macy’s: Donald Trump does not reflect the ‘magic of Macy’s.’ We urge you to sever ties with him. Macy’s says it has a strong obligation to be ‘socially responsible’ and that ‘actions speak louder than words.’ Indeed. It’s time to act.”

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First Trump went on CNN’s Piers Morgan Tonight and Fox News Channel’s On the Record with Greta Van Susteren to insist that his stupid PR stunt was, in fact, anything but. Most revealing line in the Morgan interview? While he would “very much like to write” the check, Trump also notes that he is “…not looking to pay five million dollars!” It’s almost like he never even planned on doing such a thing…

Van Susteren spoke to Trump by phone and pressed him on his continuing obsession with the possibly even more idiotic “birther” movement. His response? “I’m really surprised by you, you don’t know anything”. Eyes: consider yourselves rolled.

Other responses: Sean Hannity thought Trump’s scheme was a great idea while MSNBC’s Ed Schultz wasted a few minutes of his valuable time speaking out against it. We’ve never been less surprised.

Stick with us, though: it does get better.

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And he’s joined today in infamy (thank God) by his female equivalent, Gloria Allred. Do they realize that almost everyone is laughing at them? We don’t think they do! It’s hard to believe!

The Donald has finally released his anti-Obama “bombshell”, and it is—get ready–a press release stating that the world’s most famous hairpiece model will donate $5 million to the President’s charity of choice as soon as he releases (dum dum dum)…his college transcripts.

Well, that was a big letdown, wasn’t it? It’s not a “reveal” in any sense of the word. And of course we’ve seen the dude pull this kind of crap before. A serious question for all the RealTrump/World Net Daily fans who read our blog (we know you’re legion): what, exactly, might Obama be squirreling away in these mysterious transcripts? Did he get a C in Philosophy 2? Did he once take a course called “Fascist Dictatorships 101”? Was he a proud, card carrying member of Harvard’s famous Gay Muslim Communist Club? Anyone?

Lest we stick to the very lowest hanging fruit, here’s Allred’s equally earth-shattering “October surprise”: Mitt Romney once testified in the divorce hearings of friend, business partner and Staples CEO Tom Stemberg, telling officials that he was actually a pretty good dad. Yeah, that’s it.

Shocking! Appalling! Petty! Completely meaningless! Pardon us while we editorialize a bit, but we can say with confidence that only one word accurately describes these shameless publicity whores: pathetic.

(We already feel icky for giving them more attention. Our apologies for putting you through this.)

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Donald Trump

Trump showcased his crude PR savvy yet again yesterday by announcing, via his Twitter feed, that he is planning a “big surprise” for the upcoming Republican National Convention. And of course this tweet was catnip for poli-bloggers. Sounds a little fishy–everybody already knows about Chris Christie.

Vanity Fair’s Juli Weiner thinks Trump’s bombshell might involve scissors, glitter, pipe cleaners and macaroni (we always preferred the star-shaped pasta). And Donald, if you’re listening, we feel like Newt Gingrich would make a great addition to the next season of Celebrity Apprentice. He can do his usual routine: condescend to everyone and get cheers for it.

So what do you think? Does The Donald have anything interesting up his sleeve, or is this “announcement” more of the usual smoke and mirrors?

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Ugh. Donald Trump again. Why? Mitt Romney. Blame Romney.

Mitt Romney, who will be the official GOP candidate for President as of today, is throwing a Las Vegas fundraiser with Donald Trump. A man who continues to say out loud that the President was not born in the U.S. Donald Trump is a horrible man. And the Democrats want you to know that Romney associates happily with this horrible man. So they’ve released the clip above, juxtaposing Romney with prior GOP presidential candidate John McCain, who rejected supporters that said such things.

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Photo: AP

When The Donald announced that he wasn’t running for President back in May, we’d hoped we were done with his political antics. But alas! He has re-inserted himself into the fray with the announcement that he will be moderating a GOP debate in Iowa on December 27. More than that, he’s billing himself as the GOP’s ultimate endorser.

“Some magazines have said I am the single most important endorsement a presidential candidate can have. I don’t know if that’s true, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t say that to brag; I just tell it like it is,” Politico quotes him saying.

A couple of candidates aren’t buying it. Jon Huntsman has declined (Trump says he’s the decliner), with Huntsman’s peeps sending a message on Twitter: “Lol. We look forward to watching Mitt and Newt suck-up to The Donald with a big bowl of popcorn.”

And Ron Paul’s campaign chairman (oh you Ron Paul!) also responded, saying Trump’s inclusion “is beneath the office of the Presidency.”

Haha. But seriously, you know Donald Trump doesn’t give a damn what they say.

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Palin in Gettysburg. Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times

Sarah Palin is taking  a really boring family trip to various East Coast U.S. landmarks. Or maybe her “One Nation” tour is part of her 2012 Presidential run, creating opportunities for her to say things in locations that make her look really patriotic. She won’t say which it is, but she just keeps turning up in places and people keep asking questions and her tour bus keeps rolling on.

Much like Donald Trump, Sarah Palin is great at generating press attention. The ongoing “will she or won’t she run” question is sure to lure the media until a decision is finally announced. But ultimately will this be a successful tour? Or just another thing Palin did that got a lot of attention during a slow news period?

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Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Donald Trump has made it official, via statement issued today, that he will not be running for President. While maintaining his “strong conviction” that he could win office, he said in that statement, “business is my greatest passion and I am not ready to leave the private sector.” Translation: I got a ton of publicity, NBC picked up my show for another year, so I’m done with my political show and we can now return to our regularly scheduled episode of The Apprentice. Peace out.

But before that statement he issued another video statement in support of Mike Huckabee‘s decision not to run, which had the Meet the Press roundtable panel in hysterics. (You can watch that above.) Huckabee announced Saturday night at the end of his show (and just in time for the Sunday morning political programs) that he wouldn’t be running.

“Mike, enjoy the show. Your ratings are terrific, you’re making a lot of money, you’re building a beautiful house in Florida. Good luck,” said Trump. Wha?

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It’s no wonder Prince William’s cranky three-year-old goddaughter – and great-great-great-granddaughter of William Waldorf Astor — became an instant Internet sensation: As Aaron Morrisey at DCist.com noted, with a single pose, the blogger-dubbed “frowning flower girl” summed up how “most of us feel about the whirlwind, nonstop royal wedding coverage that has filled the airwaves over the past few days, weeks and months.”

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Groupon

“Things go viral on the internet. Who knew?” Groupon wrote on its blog.

News stories were published this week saying after the obnoxious New Yorker involved himself in the “birther” movement against President Obama, Groupon dropped its association with Trump like a hot rock.

Not true, says the coupon giant. It never liked the comb-over king in the first place.

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The President and First Lady sat down with Oprah after yesterday morning's announcement. Photo: AP, Charles Dharapak

Following yesterday’s release of President Barack Obama’s long-form birth certificate, the Internet lit up with outraged media responses.

Most vocal were sites targeting black audiences. AOL Black Voices said plainly, “But let’s be real, just as with Trump’s foolish assertion that Obama didn’t deserve to attend Ivy League institutions Columbia and Harvard, the real issue is people’s inability to accept that a black man has the top job in this country. It’s always been about racists and their racism, point blank.”

The Root discusses the characterization of the President by “his fellow Americans as a dangerous outsider.”

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Photo: AP

Evidence already shows that some people will continue with what President Obama calls this “silliness,” but the White House has made the President’s birth certificate public for all to see, definitively, once and for all.

“We do not have time for this kind of silliness,” Obama said during a presser this morning. “I’ve got better stuff to do.” According to Politico, the President sent a legal team to Hawaii to get a special copy of the certificate.

“At a time of great consequence for this country – when we should be debating how we win the future, reduce our deficit, deal with high gas prices, and bring stability to the Middle East, Washington, DC, was once again distracted by a fake issue,” White House comms director Dan Pfeiffer said in a statement. According to Politico, Pfeiffer added that “the White House hopes to defeat the issue by addressing it directly.” Fingers crossed.

Rather than being shamed by this nonsense, Donald Trump appeared at his own press conference to squawk about how proud he is. This man is in the lead for the GOP presidential nomination.

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