My Publicist Note Book

Ever ask a friend to join you at Mickey D's for lunch? Unless your dining companion lives under a rock, we're pretty sure he knew you were referring to fast food giant McDonald's. It seems American consumers have a knack for creating their own "terms of endearment" for the companies they patronize and the products they purchase. Of course, consumer-given monikers are not always complimentary (Taco Hell, anyone?), but whether positive, negative or neutral, an apt company or product nickname can take on a life of its own. Take for instance Trader Joe's best-selling Charles Shaw wine. More people know the wine by its nickname ("Two-Buck Chuck") than they do its actual brand name. Pet names can even become part of our cultural fabric and foster an emotional connection. General Motors should have considered this before they  made the unbelievable decision  to try and snuff out the use of one of the world's best-known, longest-lived product nick...

DONNA KARAN (1985) "She is a working woman, constantly on the move," Donna Karan said in 1986, after Kathleen Turner and Liza Minelli graced her front row. "She needs to dress to go from day to night, she doesn't have time to change her clothes and she's constantly traveling [sic]. It's really a mirror image of my friends and I – we all dress the same way." And soon, so would every stylish woman in America... MARC JACOBS (1986 AND 1994) Few labels get  two  runway debuts, but Marc Jacobs is just that cool. After launching and shuttering his own line in the '80s, he staged a 1994 comeback show loaded with supermodels and forward-thinking fashion. (The modern military trend that's still  going strong? That's MJ 101.) "I don't want to be as intimidating as Calvin Klein," Jacobs said  in 1986, so he became an actual celebrity instead. BETSEY JOHNSON (1981) "I've done more sho...

Georgia’s film industry is growing one movie at a time. The next major motion picture to film in the Atlanta area is Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt’s new movie ‘Passengers’. Tom Rothman gave the thumbs-up to  Passengers  with a budget of about $120m after tax incentives. Sony Pictures has just given the nod for the production of 'Passengers,' an interstellar romance starring two big names of Hollywood - Christ Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence. People reported that both the stars are expected to get two paychecks for the upcoming film It's set on a spaceship, the cast is the same size as Gravity's, and the budget is huge.  But what else do we know about 2016's biggest sci-fi film? Actress Jennifer Lawrence was  recently spotted  while getting out of a vehicle on the set of the upcoming flick, ‘Passengers,’ which is being filmed in Atlanta.  Co-star Chris Pratt was also spotted on location as he prepped up for his first day on set. Sony’...

Next year's lineup includes influential women such as Serena Williams, Amy Schumer and Yoko Ono. The Pirelli calendar has become famous for its provocative photos of supermodels like Cindy Crawford, Adriana Lima, Gisele Bundchen, Kate Moss and Isabeli Fontana in exotic locations. Last year's calendar featured Carolyn Murphy, Gigi Hadid, Joan Smalls and Candice Huffine wearing nothing but latex, lensed by Steven Meisel.  Now, photographer Annie Liebovitz will usher in a new era for the 2016 calendar.  Next year's lineup includes only one model, Pirelli veteran Natalia Vodianova, alongside an unexpected cast of influential women from all different walks of life—Amy Schumer, Serena Williams, Tavi Gevinson and Patti Smith, to name a few.  "I started to think about the roles that women play, women who have achieved something," said Liebovitz. "I wanted to make a classic...