For years, the accepted wisdom has been that a celebrity plug for a small business is solid gold. Even better is if the star actually operates the business/designed the fashion line/mixed the perfume themselves. (Ha)

A few months ago, however, an interesting study from the Journal of Advertising Research circulated through the blogosphere, which suggested that having an A-lister's endorsement didn't much matter (check out one such posting by Guy Kawasaki here). The study was interesting, but I don't underestimate Americans' appetite for all things celebrity. We're a Star magazine culture, and if Jamie Lee Curtis says that Activia yogurt is good for you, people will buy it. At least that's what I thought until I saw this picture, via Catwalk Queen:

Apparently Lindsay Lohan has jumped into the celeb-as-entrepreneur ring this week, having launched 6126, a line of leggings. I don't know if it's this picture or Lindsay Lohan, but I'd rather buy a pair of leggings at Target. Maybe it's that certain celebrities just don't resonate with consumers. But I'm not convinced that celebrity actually has the same impact it once did when it comes to moving product.