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| Uploaded: | 2015-05-20 |
| Last sync: | 2024-11-11 09:00 |
A weekly show where knowledge junkies get their fix of trivia-tastic information. This week, John looks at 23 weird celebrity businesses, aka, all the fun ways celebrities can lose money!
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Mental Floss Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mf_video
Select Images and Footage provided by Shutterstock: www.shutterstock.com
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Website: http://www.mentalfloss.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mental_floss
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mentalflossmagazine
Store: http://store.mentalfloss.com/ (enter promo code: "YoutubeFlossers" for 15% off!)
----
Mental Floss Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mf_video
Select Images and Footage provided by Shutterstock: www.shutterstock.com
----
Website: http://www.mentalfloss.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mental_floss
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mentalflossmagazine
Store: http://store.mentalfloss.com/ (enter promo code: "YoutubeFlossers" for 15% off!)
Hi I'm John Green. Welcome to my salon. This is Mental Floss on YouTube, and did you know that Willie Nelson once owned a truck stop in Texas called Willie's Place? It went bankrupt in 2011, but for a few years it was a Nelson-themed stop with a concert venue and bar. That's the first of many businesses owned or partially owned by celebrities that I'm going to share with you today in a video where we shall learn all of the many ways celebrities can lose money.
[Mental Floss intro plays]
Singer Akon owns a diamond mine in South Africa. He also signed Lady Gaga to his record label within Interscope, which is all he needs financially. According to him, she pretty much retired me.
Marilyn Manson owns his own brand of absinthe known as 'Mansinthe'. It actually won a gold medal, though, at the 2008 San Francisco world spirits competition.
In 2007, rapper Lil' Romeo bought the potato chip brand Rap Snacks. These are chips called "the official snack of hip-hop."
The band KISS sells KISS everything, including a line of KISS-themed coffins known as 'KISS Kaskets,' with a 'K', of course. When they were introduced in 2001, Gene Simmons announced, "This is the ultimate KISS collectible. I love livin', but this makes the alternative look pretty damn good."
In 2009 there were reports that Joe Jackson and Cristiano Ronaldo got together to shoot commercials for the 'Goalie Grill', which was a grill in the shape of a soccer ball. Jackson was a partial owner of Game On Products, which produced the grill, but the commercial never aired. More like game off, little smurf.
Bill Wyman, the former Rolling Stones bassist, has his own patented metal detector, which is extra light and adjustable. According to Wyman, "Metal-detecting is not just for anoraks or eccentrics; it's probably the best and the most enjoyable way of learning about our history." Specifically, our history of leaving bottle caps at the beach. What, has no one told Wyman about CrashCourse?
Speaking of band members, Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres has his own line of baby clothes called 'Rockstar Baby'. They also sell things like cribs and strollers.
Ashton Kutcher owns one-third of a venture capital firm called 'A-Grade Investments'. They have made investments in apps and websites like Airbnb, which helps people rent out their houses like hotels and YPlan, which tells you about things going on in your city that night. But you go calling him a genius, please rewatch The Butterfly Effect, or No Strings Attached, or What Happens in Vegas, or really most non-Dude Where's My Car?-related Ashton Kutcher films.
Jeff Foxworthy has his own line of beef jerky, named after himself, of course. The product is technically owned by Monogram Food Solutions, but Foxworthy is an investor.
Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar had a bicycle shop for a while. In fact in the 90's his second shop, Sausalito Cyclery was the number one independent bicycle store in California, but eventually he sold it.
In 1989 Kim Basinger made headlines for buying the town of Braselton, Georgia. It cost her and a couple business partners 20 million dollars for the 2,000 acre town. She wanted to make it into a tourist town with film studios, but then had to sell it for a tremendous loss within five years. Not everybody can be as successful as Sammy Hagar.
Pro tennis player Venus Williams has her own interior decorating company based in Florida called 'V*Starr'. It's a small company with only a few employees and it takes on huge projects like luxury condos worth millions of dollars.
In 2005 Steven Seagal released a line of energy drinks known as 'Lightning Gulp'. They came in two flavors: Cherry Charge and Asian Experience. Really, Steven Seagal, really?
Sylvester Stallone once co-owned the company Instone, which sold nutritional supplements. They were best known for Stallone High-Protein Pudding. But the company was shut down after a decade-long legal fight surrounding stolen pudding recipes.
Rush Limbaugh sells tea named 'Two If By Tea', a play on the line 'one if by land and two if by sea' from the poem Paul Revere's Ride. The tagline: From tea to shining tea. Oh my God, that makes me want some Mansinthe. The size of this teapot demonstrates just how little I want Rush Limbaugh's tea. Oh, it's you again, soccer playing smurf. I thought I told you the game was off!
In 2010 Kevin Costner sold his oil and water separation machines to BP for an estimated $16 million, but his overall investment in the technology was around $24 million, so it didn't work out that well. It's like Water World.
In 2011 MC Hammer launched a search engine, WireDoo. It was supposed to provide you with search results in addition to topics related to your search. The catchy tagline was: Search once and see what's related.
Carlos Santana has his own line of women's footwear that's sold at Macy's. It's called 'Carlos,' and Mariah Carey starred in advertisements for the brand in 2008.
In 2006, former Melrose Place star Andrew Shue co-created a social network for moms known as 'CafeMom' with another man, Michael Sanchez. They've since launched three other websites and claim to get a combined 30 million views monthly.
Also in 2006, Danny DeVito made news for showing up drunk to his appearance on The View. It turned out that he had been drinking Limoncello with George Clooney the night before, so DeVito did what anyone would do, he endorsed a new brand of Limoncello.
Kevin Smith owns a comic book store in New Jersey called 'Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash'. It used to just be Smith's favorite place to buy comics, Comicology, but then he bought the store for 30,000 dollars when he found out it was about to close.
And finally, I return to my salon to tell you that in 2012, Shaquille O'Neal announced that he would be releasing a vodka called 'Luv
Shaq' . Tragically, it has yet to be released, which may have something to do with the fact that he also announced that his vodka would be special because it would be gluten-free, like all vodka.
[Mental Floss music begins to play]
Thanks for watching Mental Floss here on YouTube, which is made with the help of all of these nice people and thanks for patronizing my celebrity restaurant, John's Place, which only serves pizza and Diet Dr. Pepper. As we say in my hometown, don't forget to be awesome. And don't forget to eat pizza and Diet Dr. Pepper at a price of my choosing. Because it's about how much I like it, not about its actual value.
[Mental Floss intro plays]
Singer Akon owns a diamond mine in South Africa. He also signed Lady Gaga to his record label within Interscope, which is all he needs financially. According to him, she pretty much retired me.
Marilyn Manson owns his own brand of absinthe known as 'Mansinthe'. It actually won a gold medal, though, at the 2008 San Francisco world spirits competition.
In 2007, rapper Lil' Romeo bought the potato chip brand Rap Snacks. These are chips called "the official snack of hip-hop."
The band KISS sells KISS everything, including a line of KISS-themed coffins known as 'KISS Kaskets,' with a 'K', of course. When they were introduced in 2001, Gene Simmons announced, "This is the ultimate KISS collectible. I love livin', but this makes the alternative look pretty damn good."
In 2009 there were reports that Joe Jackson and Cristiano Ronaldo got together to shoot commercials for the 'Goalie Grill', which was a grill in the shape of a soccer ball. Jackson was a partial owner of Game On Products, which produced the grill, but the commercial never aired. More like game off, little smurf.
Bill Wyman, the former Rolling Stones bassist, has his own patented metal detector, which is extra light and adjustable. According to Wyman, "Metal-detecting is not just for anoraks or eccentrics; it's probably the best and the most enjoyable way of learning about our history." Specifically, our history of leaving bottle caps at the beach. What, has no one told Wyman about CrashCourse?
Speaking of band members, Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres has his own line of baby clothes called 'Rockstar Baby'. They also sell things like cribs and strollers.
Ashton Kutcher owns one-third of a venture capital firm called 'A-Grade Investments'. They have made investments in apps and websites like Airbnb, which helps people rent out their houses like hotels and YPlan, which tells you about things going on in your city that night. But you go calling him a genius, please rewatch The Butterfly Effect, or No Strings Attached, or What Happens in Vegas, or really most non-Dude Where's My Car?-related Ashton Kutcher films.
Jeff Foxworthy has his own line of beef jerky, named after himself, of course. The product is technically owned by Monogram Food Solutions, but Foxworthy is an investor.
Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar had a bicycle shop for a while. In fact in the 90's his second shop, Sausalito Cyclery was the number one independent bicycle store in California, but eventually he sold it.
In 1989 Kim Basinger made headlines for buying the town of Braselton, Georgia. It cost her and a couple business partners 20 million dollars for the 2,000 acre town. She wanted to make it into a tourist town with film studios, but then had to sell it for a tremendous loss within five years. Not everybody can be as successful as Sammy Hagar.
Pro tennis player Venus Williams has her own interior decorating company based in Florida called 'V*Starr'. It's a small company with only a few employees and it takes on huge projects like luxury condos worth millions of dollars.
In 2005 Steven Seagal released a line of energy drinks known as 'Lightning Gulp'. They came in two flavors: Cherry Charge and Asian Experience. Really, Steven Seagal, really?
Sylvester Stallone once co-owned the company Instone, which sold nutritional supplements. They were best known for Stallone High-Protein Pudding. But the company was shut down after a decade-long legal fight surrounding stolen pudding recipes.
Rush Limbaugh sells tea named 'Two If By Tea', a play on the line 'one if by land and two if by sea' from the poem Paul Revere's Ride. The tagline: From tea to shining tea. Oh my God, that makes me want some Mansinthe. The size of this teapot demonstrates just how little I want Rush Limbaugh's tea. Oh, it's you again, soccer playing smurf. I thought I told you the game was off!
In 2010 Kevin Costner sold his oil and water separation machines to BP for an estimated $16 million, but his overall investment in the technology was around $24 million, so it didn't work out that well. It's like Water World.
In 2011 MC Hammer launched a search engine, WireDoo. It was supposed to provide you with search results in addition to topics related to your search. The catchy tagline was: Search once and see what's related.
Carlos Santana has his own line of women's footwear that's sold at Macy's. It's called 'Carlos,' and Mariah Carey starred in advertisements for the brand in 2008.
In 2006, former Melrose Place star Andrew Shue co-created a social network for moms known as 'CafeMom' with another man, Michael Sanchez. They've since launched three other websites and claim to get a combined 30 million views monthly.
Also in 2006, Danny DeVito made news for showing up drunk to his appearance on The View. It turned out that he had been drinking Limoncello with George Clooney the night before, so DeVito did what anyone would do, he endorsed a new brand of Limoncello.
Kevin Smith owns a comic book store in New Jersey called 'Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash'. It used to just be Smith's favorite place to buy comics, Comicology, but then he bought the store for 30,000 dollars when he found out it was about to close.
And finally, I return to my salon to tell you that in 2012, Shaquille O'Neal announced that he would be releasing a vodka called 'Luv
Shaq' . Tragically, it has yet to be released, which may have something to do with the fact that he also announced that his vodka would be special because it would be gluten-free, like all vodka.
[Mental Floss music begins to play]
Thanks for watching Mental Floss here on YouTube, which is made with the help of all of these nice people and thanks for patronizing my celebrity restaurant, John's Place, which only serves pizza and Diet Dr. Pepper. As we say in my hometown, don't forget to be awesome. And don't forget to eat pizza and Diet Dr. Pepper at a price of my choosing. Because it's about how much I like it, not about its actual value.