Video: Britney Spears 2008 MTV VMA Commercials

Posted on Aug 12, 2008 - 11:23am by Shallow Nation in Music, Celebrity, Television

Britney Spears teamed up with Russell Brand, host of the upcoming 2008 MTV VMAs, for a series of promo commercials, the first two of which have been released online.

Britney Spears, an elephant, and a flamboyant ex-crack addict walk into a bar…

Actually it was Stage 25 on the Paramount Studios lot, and this is no joke.

Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of getting up close but impersonal with Britney Spears. Led by a protective entourage of over 10 people, the megastar made a special visit to MTV’s 2008 VMA commercial shoot in Hollywood. Regardless of how long it took her to glam up (uh, two hours), homegirl looked “Hot as Ice” and managed to upstage the enormous elephant in the room.

Her tight, toned figure certainly made an impression on this year’s VMA host, British comedian Russell Brand (or Brown, as Britney jokingly referred to him while the camera rolled). “Britney,” the towering Brit with questionable (as in, “Why? Why? Why?”) hair styling called out, “You must be releasing estrogen or some other chemical that’s beguiling me.”

Source: Brand-New VMA Videos Starring Britney… Or: There’s an Elephant In the Room — and It’s Right Behind Britney Spears

Via -Britney Spears Blackout

Video: Britney Spears on “How I Met Your Mother” 5-12-08

Video: Britney Spears 2008 MTV VMA Commercials

Video: Paris Hilton Ad Responds to John McCain Barack Obama “Celeb” Ad

Posted on Aug 06, 2008 - 6:13am by Shallow Nation in Humor, Politics, Celebrity

Paris Hilton at The Good Life opening, June 2008

Who would have imaged we would put John McCain, Barack Obama and Paris Hilton in the same headline? We can thank the John McCain campaign for that. Celebrity Paris Hilton delivers a hilarious response — and an energy policy – to the John McCain “Celeb” ad that compared Barack Obama’s celebrity status to that of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears while questioning his ability to lead. Yes, a Presidential election can take us to strange places and circumstances.

Sitting on a lawn chair in a bathing suit, Ms. Hilton says to camera, “Hey America, I’m Paris Hilton and I’m a celebrity too. Only I’m not from the olden days and I’m not promising change like that other guy. I’m just hot.”

She continues, “But then that wrinkly white-haired guy used me in his campaign ad, which I guess means that I’m running for president.”

And so, since Hilton has interpreted the comparison to Sen. Obama, D-Ill., as meaning that she too is qualified to be leader of the free world, Hilton, jokingly, lays out her campaign platform.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

The video has some more tough words for the “wrinkly white-haired” Arizona Senator: “He’s the oldest celebrity it the world, like super old. Old enough to remember when dancing was a sin and beer was served in a bucket.,” a narrator says, with a picture of Larry King and then Yoda to drive home the age point.

McCain campaign spokesperson Tucker Bounds used word of the video to take a stinging swipe at Obama. “Sounds like Paris is taking the ‘All of the Above’ energy approach that John McCain has advocated — both alternatives and drilling. Perhaps the reality is that Paris has a more substantive energy plan than Barack Obama,” Bounds said in a statement.

Source: Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Celeb Commercial

Photo: Paris Hilton at “The Good Life” opening, June 2008 - via Paris Hilton Zone

Related post:

John McCain “Celeb” Ad Gives Barack Obama Top Billing over Britney Spears, Paris Hilton

Video: Paris Hilton Ad Responds to John McCain Barack Obama “Celeb” Ad

John McCain “Celeb” Ad Gives Barack Obama Top Billing over Britney Spears, Paris Hilton

Posted on Jul 31, 2008 - 7:49am by Shallow Nation in Politics, Celebrity

Barack Obama delivers a speech in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008

It’s ironic that the John McCain campaign is using footage from Barack Obama’s world tour and calling him the biggest celebrity in the world, above Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, while questioning whether or not he can lead. Needless to say the negative ad has created controversy and drawn much attention.

John McCain campaign ad “Celeb”

ABC News’ Sunlen Miller reports: Sen. Barack Obama capitalized on Sen. John McCain’s ad today, saying the Arizona Republican’s perceived negative shift is a sign of problems in McCain’s campaign.

“You haven’t heard a positive thing out of that campaign in a month,” Obama said during a picnic in Unity, Mo. “All they do is try to run me down and you know this in your own life — if somebody doesn’t have anything nice to say about anybody, that means they’ve got some problems of their own.”

McCain released a new ad today comparing Obama, the Illinois Democrat, to celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton.

Paris Hilton

“The latest one they’ve got me in an ad with Paris Hilton,” Obama said with a laugh. “I’ve never met the woman.”

The Obama campaign quickly responded with an ad of its own, calling McCain’s attack the “low road.” At a town hall earlier today in Rolla, Mo., Obama said he hasn’t seen an ad yet where McCain talks about his plan for the country.

The McCain campaign defended its ad.

“Pointing out your opponent’s worldwide celebrity is not the ‘low road,’ and neither is pointing out that he opposes oil drilling and supports higher taxes,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement.

Source: Obama Says McCain’s Negative Shift Is a Sign of Problems

Britney Spears

The McCain campaign launched the “Celeb” ad with a conference call. Reporters asked the questions we would have asked.

This was also the first one in weeks to focus on pure politics, the main topic under discussion being whether Barack Obama is merely a global celebrity or a genuine leader who is ready to be president.

CNN’s Dana Bash asked perhaps the most relevant question of the three:

For example…when he went with Sarkozy, Sarkozy basically said, you know, “We look forward to you becoming the president,” and as you mentioned, John McCain met with Sarkozy as well. So how do you square that with this idea that [Obama’s] just sort of going and almost like he’s releasing a movie?

NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell asked:

Can you tell us what polling, focus group work, research you’ve done on the issue of celebrity, presumptuousness, audacity and those kind of words and what it is that’s leading you to believe that that has some traction as you put this messaging together?

ABC News’ David Wright:

Why these particular celebrities for comparison, Paris Hilton and Britney Spears?

Source: McCain Gets (More) Britney Traction

The Barack Obama campaign was quick to put up a response ad.

Barack Obama campaign response ad “Low Road” TV ad

Even John McCain’s former campaign manager takes issue with the ad.

John Weaver, for years one of John McCain’s closest friends and confidants, has been in exile since his resignation from McCain’s presidential campaign last year. With the exception of an occasional interview, he has, by his own account, bit his tongue as McCain’s campaign has adopted a strategy that Weaver believes “diminishes John McCain.”

With the release today of a McCain television ad blasting Obama for celebrity preening while gas prices rise, and a memo that accuses Obama of putting his own aggrandizement before the country, Weaver said he’s had “enough.”

The ad’s premise, he said, is “childish.”

“John’s been a celebrity ever since he was shot down,” Weaver said. “Whatever that means. And I recall Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush going overseas and all those waving American flags.”

Source: Weaver, McCain’s Former Strategist, Calls “Celeb” Ad “Childish”

Barack Obama delivers a speech in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008

Tommy Christopher: What is it that makes Barack Obama a celebrity and John McCain not a celebrity? Is it just name recognition? Popularity?
Rick Davis: I’d love to think that John McCain is a big international celebrity, but he’s not…We see him more as a global leader than a global celebrity. (By contrast) Barack Obama’s own trip to Europe, the focus on media, the focus on events and activities is much more something you would expect from someone releasing a new movie than running for President. (His strategy is) to create a fan base around the world that allows him to get a lot of media attention, and allows him to avoid the important issues of our times.

The problem is, Obama did discuss the issues with world leaders, and he did engage in substantive work on the trip, so when the McCain campaign talks about “focus,” it isn’t Obama’s focus, it’s the media’s.
John McCain has done exactly what Obama has done, but nobody paid attention. This ad, and this conference call, are McCain’s way of holding his breath and stomping his feet.

Source: New McCain Attack: Barack’s Really Popular!

Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008

The “Celeb” Barack Obama with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008 (Photo credit: Getty Images/Europe)

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll –helpfully flagged by Post polling director Jon Cohen — shows that McCain may be treading on dangerous ground. Four in ten voters said that McCain had been attacking Obama unfairly while just more than two in ten say that Obama has attacked McCain unfairly.

Those numbers outline the risk inherent in McCain’s new strategy. But, in a political environment as toxic as this one for Republicans, a risky strategy may be the only strategy that could put McCain in the White House.

Source: McCain’s Risky Ad Strategy

Photos: Barack Obama in Berlin, Germany, July 24, 2008, Photo credit: Getty Images Europe