Take a moment this morning to imagine that you’re Ryan Lochte: You’ve just won two gold medals, two silvers and a bronze. You’ve appeared on the covers of Vogue, Time, and Men’s Journal. Most importantly, you’ve managed to defeat your arch nemesis and teammate Michael Phelps to reign atop the ranks of chlorine-tinged supermen for one brief, shining moment.

Now that you’ve made your mark on the world of sport, earned your 15 minutes as an international “brand” and made your requisite appearance in the British tabloids, the time has come for you to answer the question that vexes a nation:

“The Bachelor” or “Dancing with the Stars?”

How about both? The world of reality TV is calling, and this morning good sir Lochte told Matt Lauer that he is “looking towards” it. After scoring endorsement deals with Gillette, Speedo, Gatorade and Ralph Lauren, the 6’2″ fish has let the world know that he’s ready to leave the water — or at least to trade the Olympic pool for the Pacific Ocean.

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What could the American public possibly have against our Olympic athletes proudly displaying the red-white-and-blue of our flag on their opening ceremony uniforms? Perhaps it’s the fact that when ABC News took a look at the labels of the Ralph Lauren-designed attire, those labels read: “Made in China.” In fact, every piece of the uniforms, from the berets down to the shoes, was made overseas.

According to ABC News, top American fashion designer Nanette Lepore said of the issue, “Why shouldn’t we have pride not only in the American athletes, but in the American manufacturers and laborers who are the backbone of our country…why was that not a consideration?” Read more

Yesterday, we mocked Fox & Friends‘ silly outrage over the inclusion of berets in Ralph Lauren‘s uniform design for the American Olympic team. As a side note, host Steve Doocey noted that the uniforms are made in China. So today, lawmakers, egged on by news reports about the “Made in China” note on the outfit labels, are up in arms over the manufacturing situation.

“I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). And Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), who has a Hugo Boss plant in his district, would like to see the uniforms made in the U.S.A. in 2014 for the Winter Olympics.  Mediaite notes that the 2008 Olympic uniforms were also made in China.

So Ralph Lauren, which probably thought it had a can’t-miss positive PR opportunity, still managed to get into a publicity mess. The devil is in the details. But by the time the opening ceremony comes round, we’re guessing most everyone will forget about the whole thing.

We’re going to have a very stylish American Olympic team, what with their new uniforms designed by Ralph Lauren. That uniform is being modeled at left by the stunning swimmer Ryan Lochte. Normally, Lochte has his shirt off, like he does on this Vogue cover. But that’s not really pertinent to this story.

So Ralph Lauren is going to get some major exposure, right? That oversized polo pony logo will be all over all of our screens. The media coverage started with a segment on the TODAY show. Watch that after the jump.

“Ralph Lauren is claiming that its Olympic uniforms are a ‘very classic, very elegant’ return to tradition,” the Wall Street Journal‘s Speakeasy blog writes. “…Except those huge logos—a Big-Gulp-sized version of the demur small Polo pony—void all claims to classicism or elegance.”

Also, here’s something dumb.

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It’s that holiday e-card time of year and Ralph Lauren is trying to make the most (money) out of it.

Ralph Lauren’s Rugby line is offering e-cards that can be customized with messages that you can also shop from. We’ve got a snapshot of a special card that we made at left.

“We wanted a creative way to engage our customers and drive traffic for the holidays through ecommerce, so we created the Rugby MYO Holiday Card,” David Lauren, SVP of advertising, marketing and corporate communications told Mashable in an e-mail. Too much?

Here are this week’s media highlights from Mediabistro’s Revolving Door Newsletter:

Anya Strzemien has been named deputy editor at xoJane.com. She had been senior style editor at Huffington Post. (Business Insider)

Eliza Newlin Carney has been named reporter at Roll Call‘s lobbying and influence team. She had been contributing editor at National Journal. (FBDC)

Kurt Soller has been named style and grooming editor at Esquire.com. He had been men’s fashion editor at Ralph Lauren. (mb)

Mitchell Alan Parker has been named editor at Austin Monthly Home. He had been senior editor and home and design editor at Houston. (release)

Jeanne Cummings has been named enterprise editor at Bloomberg. She had been assistant managing editor at Politico. (FBNY)

Click here to receive mediabistro.com’s Revolving Door Newsletter via email.

Dubbed “a historic fusion of art, fashion, and technology,” Ralph Lauren unveiled 4D clips at its New York and London stores to commemorate the company’s decade of digital. According to the website, the show was created using “architectural light-mapping technology” which was experienced without 3D glasses. The clip below was featured at the New York store.

The Daily Beast reports that Ralph Lauren was the first luxury brand to have an e-commerce site, a mobile sales platform, and the first to use QR codes. The brand’s website also features original content and customers can now create their own polo shirts on an iPad.

Ralph Lauren 4D from Ralph Lauren on Vimeo.