NASCAR DRIVER RICHARD PETTY DONATED HIS HAT FOR A CHARITY FUND RAISER

The $900 felt, snakeskin, feathers, fur, stone and bone hat was autographed by Perry and auctioned for the Rockingham Pregnancy Care Center fund-raising event, "Black Tie & Blue Jeans."

The event's theme, "Pass the Hat," caught Petty’s attention, even though he gets thousands of requests each month.

This is a great promotional idea for Hat Companies. Make an outrageous hat and donate it for a worthy charitable cause. The retail climate is getting more and more embedded with philanthropic causes. This in turn has become a hot button issue with consumers and celebrities.

Even Diane Keaton, the media shy actress, is hocking wares for L'Oréal.

Keaton will be representing L'Oréal Paris Age Perfect Pro-Calcium skin care line launching in July. When asked why she was doing this (which is uncharacteristic for Keaton who has wrinkles extraordinaire) she replied: "I love that L'Oréal is a company known for empowering women and I admire the company for its charity work."

It's the first L'Oréal Paris brand to target women aged 60 and older in the U.S.

Do you hear the cash register jingling, I do? It’s the public’s perception of your brand that matters, not actually the brand. There is a lesson here folks.

(psst…someone should tell Keaton that if she wore a hat she wouldn’t have wrinkles)