Billboard reported last night that the new Spice Girls Greatest Hits album will be sold exclusively at Victoria's Secret stores, a division of Limited Brands, Inc. (NYSE: LTD), starting November 13, until it is released in other retail outlets starting January 15. According to the same report, fans will have a 24-hour period to pre-order the album from the Victoria's Secret website starting tonight at midnight. The album will also be available in digital stores from November 13, while the Spice Girls begin a worldwide tour in early December.

The deal that Capitol Music Group made with Victoria's Secret will also see the quintet performing at the "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," which will be broadcast by CBS (NYSE: CBS) on December 4. The world tour currently only features 10 dates, but due to popular demand, more dates are being added, according to Reuters.

The move to sell the greatest hits album in a retailer that focuses on women's lingerie is certainly understandable, especially given the marketing possibilities that will undoubtedly be unveiled shortly. At the same time, it is not an altogether bad move for the music industry to market an album like this strictly in a single store initially. Greatest hits collections are often hit and miss in terms of sales, so limiting the output initially may offer a better picture of how the album will sell after it is released to all retailers in January. The problem with a greatest hits album like this is that it is pulling 15 songs from only three albums that fans likely already have.

One idea that is sure to crop up in the marketing ads is that Posh Spice (Victoria Beckham) has the same name as the store... but that may be just too obvious.

It seems like it happens every couple years. The promoters of major league soccer have finally found the secret ingredient needed to give soccer mass appeal as a spectator sport in the United States -- some advertising promotion, strategic partnership, or, in this case, the high-profile signing pf real Madrid soccer star/Posh Spice's Hubby/The Original Metrosexual, David Beckham. At 31 years of age, the British midfielder is already on the downside of his playing career, and there are a bunch of reasons this gimmick won't work:

1. The only people in the United States (other than die-hard soccer fans who, presumably, already watch MLS) who care about David Beckham are celebrity gossip followers -- and these people are unlikely to become MLS fans because of David Beckham. Sure, they might go to one game out of curiosity, or buy a poster of him -- but this will not translate into success for Major League Soccer as a whole.

2. The 18- to 35-year-old football, hockey, and baseball fans that soccer really would need to attract to become a viable spectator sport just don't care about professional soccer, or David Beckham. They might buy a copy of Maxim with Victoria Beckham on the cover, but they don't really care about David. If anything, a lot of men hate him for being so classy and good-looking.

3, This blatant PR gimmick runs the risk of alienating the few core soccer fans MLS can count on by turning their sport into a media circus. Think of Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore.

The Wall Street Journal points out numerous endorsement deals and media buzz that the league has generated in the wake of the Beckham signing. But I'll be surprised if anyone cares in a few years. Wasn't Freddy Adu supposed to generate lasting interest in soccer?