Urban Outfitters, the retail chain that franchised hipsterdom, twee sensibility and college dorm decor, found itself on Twitter's global trending list this week. It's a position most brands strive for. Urban Outfitters certainly would change places with them.

The brand is drawing heavy criticism on the social web for stealing the designs of an independent artist. On her Tumblr "i make shiny things," the artist wrote, "The World/United States of Love line that I created is one of the reasons that I was able to quit my full-time job.  [Urban Outfitters] even stole the item name as well as some of my copy." As she points out, Urban Outfitters has been accused of this before.

"This will not stand." "Urban Outfitters must be boycotted." "Blah blah blah." Don't count on it. There is one way though that consumers could make Urban Outfitters genuinely feel the pain… for once. Continue reading...

Ashton Kutcher personifies personal branding in the era of social media, with the entrepreneurial actor's fingers in every nook and cranny of pop culture, from TV actor and producer to Twitter maven, to cause-related marketing with his DNA Foundation with wife Demi Moore, to inspiring others to dream big.

Looking from analog to digital, the recent news of his replacing Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, a deal worth about $20 million, may only last a season as the show is only confirmed for one more year at this point, but in that year, we can only imagine what Ashton will do in addition to entertaining us on CBS.

In a landmark deal for a Hollywood celebrity, he just launched a Twitter app with UberMedia to share his various passions (via his curated channels) and make social surfing easier for others to find their passions on the social site, where Kutcher tweets daily to more than 6.8 million followers.Continue reading...

The "Real Man" campaign featuring Sean Penn and a host of other actors and star athletes was released today in support of Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher's DNA Foundation — short for Demi'n'Ashton as well as Donate/Notify/Action. 

The tagline is "Real Men Don't Buy Girls." So what do "Real Men" do? Evidently, "iron" (above) and "walk it off" (below), even with a gaping wound.

It's a well-meaning if muddled (there's a live-action sequence, followed by Jessica Biel or Eva Longoria highlighting another "real man") effort, the biggest to date in the foundation's commitment to raise awareness and stop child prostitution, sex slavery and trafficking.Continue reading...

Wonder why #plannedparenthood is a trending topic today on Twitter?

It's at the heart of a stand-off, as US Republicans and Democrats debate a Republican-backed proposal to cut more than $300 million in Title X federal funding for women's health care centers, including Planned Parenthood, that may force a government shutdown (another trending topic) at midnight tonight.

That's why it's seeking support by releasing a series of celebrity spots titled "Stand With Planned Parenthood" including PSAs by Scarlett Johannson (above) and Gwyneth Paltrow (below), along with a group spot featuring comedian Sarah Silverman and actress Kathleen Turner.Continue reading...

She will be remembered for her remarkable film career, her headline-making love life and many marriages, her friendship with Michael Jackson, even her White Diamonds perfume — 20 years on the market, and still the best-selling celebrity-created perfume in the world.

But the lasting legacy of Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who died today at the age of 79, may very well be her post-acting career: a quarter-century of opening minds (and wallets) to help AIDS research and those living with HIV.Continue reading...

Where Reese Witherspoon's International Women's Day campaign for Avon is earnest, some celeb Brit wits address the same issue — domestic violence, plus and a host of other issues holding back women's equality — with dark wit.

The PSA above, running in cinemas and on British TV, depicts actor Daniel Craig, in his guise as James Bond, putting himself, literally, in a woman's shoes.Continue reading...

It's a well-known saying that when you're given lemons, make lemonade. A less well-known saying: when you're given a celebrity train wreck, make viral marketing.

That's the thinking of L.A. Beverage Group, in a million dollar offer for the recently disgraced and never hotter or more in demand Carlos Irwin Estevez, better known to America as "Charlie Sheen."

But Sheen's recordbreaking arrival on Twitter suggests the actor has other endorsement ideas in mind.Continue reading...

"Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they've made in the past...our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they've made supporting those groups." — Lady Gaga talks to Billboard for a cover story about the exclusive deal with Target for Born This Way, her upcoming album.

The big-box retailer last year angered the gay community after corporate donations to an organization supporting anti-gay policies and political candidates came to light last year, for which its CEO was forced to apologize. Billboard posts a transcript of its reporter's conversation with Target's VP of public relations about Lady Gaga's statements here.

(h/t Jezebel)