LINDSAY LOHAN CAN COUNT HER BLESSINGS

This E*Trade commercial, which aired during the Superbowl, has gone virulently viral and, as you must know by now, not just because of its wise-beyond-years man-wolf baby star. It has drawn the kind of attention that ad men can only drool about because of actress Lindsay Lohan’s $100-million lawsuit against E*Trade Financial Corps, which alleges that the commercial used her “likeness, name, character, and personality” without consent or compensation.

When asked by his tot girlfriend during a video chat if a visit from Lindsay the “milkaholic” was the real reason he failed to call her the night before, the baby trader responds with squirmy evasiveness. But the sudden appearance of the ‘other babe’ confirms that devoted traders do indeed invest broad-ly.

Grey Group, the creators of the ad, have dismissed Lohan’s claim on the grounds that they had no intention of evoking her. The moniker, they said, is a common one for girls and they selected it because it “happened to be the name of someone on the account team.”

Over the years, I’ve asked many executives how they come up with the names of their products and you’d be stunned at just how unscientific the process is. Whether it’s a paint company, a furniture company, or a wallpaper company, small teams typically engage in a process that is identical to the off-the-cuff one described by Grey Group: They sit around and brainstorm until lightening strikes.

Although it’s hard to know what the publicity-seeking players in this E*Trade case (as good as the Superbowl) did or didn’t intend, I do know they could have made matters much worse by outfitting the nurseries with any of these pieces:

the Lindsey Crib Bedding set (http://www.storeapps.net/search/rosenberry/index.php?keyword=lindsey&x=0&y=0),

the Lindsay Collection bed from Powell Furniture (http://www.studentmarket.com/asp/show_collection.asp?XnID=64028),

or the Lindsey Butterfly Nursery from Pottery Barn Kids (http://www.potterybarnkids.com/room/rom/romnur/romnurlbf/:).

The lawsuit will likely settle and Lindsay Lohan will emerge from the whole brouhaha with a few more assets to invest. Whatever the outcome though, she’s already busy diversifying her portfolio. She picked up this hot deal just a few hours ago. Same Sam, different gender.

I doubt he’s a day trader. But I bet he calls her ‘baby’.