Is Lindsay Lohan Being Erased from Pop Culture?

Wild child Lindsay Lohan is practically un-hireable. Even for simple club appearances, the rehabbed star is reportedly getting paid less than Jersey Shore's Snooki. According to reports, she gets paid only between $5,000 and $10,000 per appearance. Seems like a lot for one night of partying, but compared to her million-per-movie salary a few years ago, that's barely enough to keep up that kind of lifestyle.

But despite the state of her career now, she still put some great movies under her belt when she was younger. Everyone remembers her as the sweet Cady Heron in the 2004 hit, "Mean Girls." Apparently, the people behind the marketing of the new Nintendo DS game based on the movie disagree. The cover of the game is missing its star! It prominently features "The Plastics" played by Lacey Chabert, Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried. But despite the fact that the game is based on Lindsay Lohan's character's adventures, she is nowhere to be found.

This appears to reflect a trend in removing her from the marketing of the movie's syndicated airings, which focus on the other girls and leave Lohan out of the commercials altogether. Is this simple cruelty or smart marketing?

On its face, it seems a tad offensive to keep the protagonist who made the movie so famous be left out of the promos associated with the movie. However, common sense suggests that leaving her in would be disadvantageous to the brand. At this point, Lohan is barely even considered an actress at all. Her last movie, "Labor Pains" went straight to TV and she hasn't been seen on a film set in ages.

She is more well known for her poor decisions than her talent, so it's only reasonable that those who want to market the game, especially to a younger demographic, do not want to be associated with Lohan at all. Parents who see her face on tabloids every day are probably less likely to buy their child a game that features her on the cover.

Similarly, the movie is now six years old. They are marketing to a whole new generation, who perhaps don't remember her as the great child star from "The Parent Trap," and only see the drug use and partying. To them, a Lindsay Lohan movie is not worth their time, despite the fact that for anyone even a little older, it was such a cultural event that to this day seeps into our vernacular. But the networks trying to get the movie watched know that a large part of the audience is made up of people who might be too old to remember that it's awesome.

It's a terrible shame that Lindsay Lohan is being effectively erased from the things that made her famous to begin with. At this point, her talent will always be overshadowed by her off-screen antics. However, from a marketing perspective, it makes perfect sense. Regardless of how it's packaged, the DS game, like the movie, sounds like it'll be so fetch.