It’s been a long time since Texan songstress Jessica Simpson had a hit record — 12 years, in fact, since her 2003 album In This Skin peaked at number 2 on the charts with three million copies sold.
But these days, Simpson is raking in the dough through another avenue.
Her self-titled line of clothing and housewares, founded in 2005, averages about a billion dollars in retail sales each year.
Department stores such as The Bay carry the modestly-priced Jessica Simpson Collection, which retails tops and dresses for about $70 apiece, give or take.
She’s certainly not the first popstar to stray from the business that launched her to fame and fortune and make a go of a style venture.
But celebrities of all crafts are getting crafty about maintaining their brands, and that often means going into a new line of business after the album sales have dried up, the box office has slipped or the clock has counted and those 15 minutes are up.
Brother band Hanson, who skyrocketed to fame with their one-hit-wonder Mmmbop in 1996, are now the proprietors of Mmmhops, a pale ale they released in 2013.
Booze is a popular route for celebrities to take in building their brands. Comedian Dan Aykroyd launched Crystal Head Vodka, which is bottled in a crystal skull, in 2007 to much success.
Legendary NBA star Shaquille O’Neal also owns a vodka, which he’s called Luv Shaq. That one launched in 2013.
You can find celebrities’ faces and names on more than liquor store shelves, however.
Paul Newman is in our very own grocery stores here in Merritt, his face featured prominently on his Newman’s Own pasta sauces and salad dressings. All the profits from sales of those dressings and sauces benefit the Newman’s Own Foundation. Since it was founded in 1982, the foundation has distributed more than $430 million to thousands of non-profit organizations around the world.
Movie star Kevin Costner owns Ocean Therapy Solutions, a company that manufactures these giant centrifuge machines that spin oil-affected waters around until they separate, aiding in oil spill management and cleanup. He put $20 million of his own money into these machines, which his scientist brother helped him create. In 2010, BP placed an order for 32 of the machines to help manage its devastating Gulf of Mexico spill.
Perhaps the value of water is something the actor took away from the notorious box office bomb Waterworld (besides a handful of nominations for the first annual Razzie awards, which celebrate the worst in cinema).
Significantly less concerned with his business’ impact on the environment, R&B star Akon purchased a diamond mine in South Africa in the mid-2000s.
In the years following the news of the extravagant purchase, the singer-producer kept fairly quiet about his role in the mining business because of the obvious controversy around “blood diamonds” and human rights abuses in diamond mines.
Even the baddest of the bad, the hardest of the hardcore make some weird moves in their branding decisions.
KISS makes caskets, Marilyn Manson makes online-order-only absinthe, and Ozzy Osborne endorsed a spreadable butter substitute).
On the weird, mismatched side, Bob Dylan appeared (and sang) in a 2004 Victoria’s Secret ad, while Brad Pitt was the face of Chanel No. 5 perfume in some much-lambasted ads in 2012.
When Kelly Ripa’s not talking up Tide to Go pens, she’s all about “mouth health” products such as toothpaste and mouthwash.
It seems no matter what channel we’re on, what magazine we flip open, what website we visit, or what billboard we glance at, celebrities are all around us, toiling away in the name of a good dollar — hard-earned or otherwise.
