Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies

People do strange things for money. We’ve seen the auctioning of penile ad space by a Hamiltonian chap, people selling space on their bodies for branded tattoos and a weird name changes to corporate entities. For a moment, Maria Sharapova fooled the world into thinking she was joining that club of money-hungry sell-outs by saying she would legally change her name to Sugarpova, the name of her sweets brand, for the duration of the US Open.

Turns out it was all a stunt to draw attention to the company she started in 2012 and she never even approached the courts in Florida about the change. That didn’t matter, because the media (including The Guardian, The Age and many others) took the bait and sent the story—and her company’s name—far and wide. Well played Sugarpova, well played. Long shall you remain the world’s richest female athlete.