[As you well know, the USA is a land of parallel universes. It may cheer you up to learn that Sarah Jessica Parker was recently paid $38 million to do Gap advertising -- that's $38M for a *few months* of work on an *unsuccessful* ad campaign. The Washington Post explains:]
... The last season of "Sex" wrapped up in February 2004, and shortly thereafter the Gap announced it had signed Parker to promote its casual wear. It was the first multi-season contract in the company's history, and the glamorous fashion icon was paid a reported $38 million to star in ad campaigns that started in fall 2004 and were to end this spring.
Let me repeat that: $38 MILLION. Assuming she started work on the project a year ago, that comes to roughly $3 million a month, or $104,109 a day -- not that she worked every day. ... Parker, worshiped for her quirky urban chic, was supposed to draw in millions of women who wanted to look just like her. Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, a New York market-research firm, calls it "'Field of Dreams' branding" -- except in this case they didn't come. ...
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58606-2005Mar22.html>
Carl