A Brand Re-Booted

In July 2006 Michael Todd was reading the Guardian newspaper when in it he spotted a paparazzo photo of model Kate Moss. She was stomping through the mud at the Glastonbury music festival in a pair of black, clunky knee-high rubber boots, made by Hunter, a 150-year-old British footwearmaker. Shortly after, Todd called Hunter's chief executive, Peter Mullen, with some unsolicited advice. Moss' choice of the stuffy Wellington boot brand--it wasn't pushed on her by Hunter--meant it might be poised to shed its dumpy image. To build the company, said Todd, a veteran of faddish bootmaker Ugg boots , Mullen needed to start pushing Hunter toward a younger, more fashion-conscious crowd.

Republicans Will Fight the Next Cycle“Who are th

That was the buzz in Northeastern Pennsylvania during the first week of November last year. It was high noon in what would become the most contentious election of our lifetime.

Yet, a group of relentless students screaming themselves hoarse in the town square, daring the disapproval of former President Clinton by showing up uninvited to his rally, and storming the streets armed with literature, captivated the locals. Newspapers and television crews seemed to follow our every move, asking with a detectable degree of incredulity: why did a group of young students come all the way from D.C. to help Congressional candidate Lou Barletta?

We think, with all due respect to our liberal friends, that they were duped. His face was on t-shirts at Urban Outfitters, he had an application for your iPhone, and the DNC looked more like MTV with all of those Obama-crazed stars slinking around the place. Obama was cool, but has he earned our generation’s vote?

To give you some perspective here, Republicans view President Obama and his policies roughly the same way guys look at UGG boots : attractive in the short-run, but ultimately too costly and impractical to sustain.

Admittedly, our Party failed. It neither communicated our message in a modern way nor nominated a candidate to represent those ideals. For this, we are sorry, but before you pick up an Obama pin for your backpack, we ask that you join us, one of the most active College Republicans chapters in the nation, and help us to build a new face for the Party of Lincoln.

OK! Interview: Peter André & Katie Price

The former UK glamour model and her pop star hubby stopped by OK!’s Beverly Hills office, and opened up about their life in the US, the Beckhams, and Jade Goody .

Do you live a normal life here in the US?

Peter: In England, it is constant. Here you get some days when they are there, and some days when they are not. You can be normal.

Katie: You think it’s pretty normal to go and have a 13-mile run along Malibu beach and have twelve paparazzi following you around?

The Beckhams attempt to “conquer America,” was short-lived because it looks like they’re now going back to Europe. What are your thoughts?

KP: Well, we never said that we were trying to break America. I don’t know if they said that they were trying to. It’s sad they’re going to be leaving. I’m sure that she loves it here, and her boys love it here. Just — good luck to them!

PA: I think that they are so successful anyway –who cares. It doesn’t matter, and I think –you know, good luck to them! We love them.

What are your thoughts on Victoria Beckham’s style?

KP: Sometimes, I do think that she tries too hard. I would actually like to see her in a tracksuit, and UGG boots going to the shop buying newspaper – smiling.

What are your thoughts and feelings on fellow UK reality star Jade Goody's battle with cancer?

KP: Oh, it is awful. But I think that it is so brave and I am just gutted for her. We talk about her day and night. I would love to be by her side just the whole way, you know.

PA: It’s really put everything into perspective for us. We are living the American dream but what does it all mean when you think back to someone who can’t see their children after a certain period of time. She will never see them again.

Have the both of you reached out to her?

KP: I’m supporting her.

PA: We’ve sent her some messages, and we have sent her some flowers.

KP: I do say that they need to do a Jade charity, and I would love to be a part of that. I said that next year, I would run the marathon to raise money for that.

PA: Well, I was actually thinking of writing her name across my forehead when I do the London marathon. Buy cheap ugg boots .