Oscar '08: Scandal cheat sheet

By Mark Olsen, The Envelope

Even folks who don’t know the first thing about working in PR probably know the old adage “Any publicity is good publicity.”

But does that still hold true in today’s super-hard-core industrial-entertainment complex?

Does controversy always reap the benefit of audience interest, or can you sink your ship with a few misplaced words and wrongheaded choices?

Here are some of the controversies (real or manufactured) hovering around this season’s awards contenders.

In a sense, any of these pictures might consider themselves lucky to be part of a brouhaha that has captured the attention of the public.

Or maybe not.