The latest industry overcome by celebrity endorsement deals is audio equipment. Headphones appear to be the new sneakers–when the $300 Beats by Dre model debuted a couple of years ago, they were the earwear equivalent of Nike Air Jordans. The first question to ask someone wearing Beats by Dre was either “When’s your album coming out?” or “How can I get tickets to the release party?”

Once marketers realized how profitable this racket can be, everyone and his brother (and his brother’s nephew, who appeared on one episode of some reality show) jumped aboard the C-list headphone train. Are they better than iPod earbuds? Do they offer deeper bass and crisper high-end sounds for compressed, low-quality mp3s? Sure–but this is more than a little ridiculous.

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Patti (Schickram) Costantino, formerly senior public relations director at Diageo North America, has launched PSC Communications, a PR consultancy specializing consumer and lifestyle brands.

Constantino tells PRNewser that there was a re-org at Diageo in April in which half of the PR team was let go. Her new agency is off to a quick start, however, having signed clients including Brugal Rum and Conjure Cognac, a new brand from rapper Ludacris, who is now going by Chris “Ludacris” Bridges.

Prior to Diageo, Constantino was an Account Supervisor at Porter Novelli.

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