Was Kim Kardashian's Marriage Bad for Business?

It's over. Finished. No mas.

No, I'm not talking about anything earth-shattering, life-threatening or even all that surprising, but the big news today that Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries have already filed for divorce after only 72 days of marriage is just that: big news.

People can (and will) talk about this for days -- weeks! months even! -- trying to analyze the situation and pinpoint exactly what went wrong, but the truth of the matter is it's probably a lot more cut-and-dry than anyone knows. The marriage was simply bad for business.

From the pressure on Kim to change her last name (the nerve!) to their inability as a couple to secure their own spin-off series on E!, the writing was on the wall. Let's take a look and see why this marriage was doomed from the start to decide who, if anyone, will come out on top.

1. Humphries doesn't quite roll off the tongue like Kardashian
If you watched the four-hour wedding special on E!, you saw Kim pretending to wrestle with the decision to change her last name. Please. This was just another in a long line of signs that she had cold feet, second thoughts and more than a little hesitation. The Kardashian name has become a brand, but that's thanks in large part to Kim, who could've easily built the Humphries brand up together with Kris. It must've been the idea of having to inevitably change it back again that gave Kim such pause.

2. There are no red carpets in Minnesota
No matter how much Kim gushed about following her man wherever the game took him, we all know that she wasn't going to move to "yeehaw" Minnesota. Her income depends on endorsing products, attending Hollywood parties and being in L.A. to shoot 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians' and its many iterations. But Kris, a Minnesota native, likes a simpler lifestyle -- even living in New York with Kourtney, Scott and their baby Mason for the upcoming season of 'Kourtney & Kim Take New York' was too much for him -- and they were sharing a high rise! The life of luxury and excess is what the Kardashians have built a public image around, not a cabin in the mountains. In this clip from the upcoming series (premieres Nov. 27), Kim asks just that: "How am I going to have my career and live in Minnesota?" Kris' response: "Baby, by the time you have kids and they're in school, no one will probably care about you." Ouch.


3. No spin-off = no success
The mark of a successful Kardashian relationship has become having your own spin-off series. 'Khloe & Lamar' got theirs, and Scott and Kourtney sort of did, too ('Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami' dealt largely with their relationship issues before and during Kourtney's pregnancy with Mason). The second that E! said there were no plans for a 'Kim & Kris Do Anything' spin-off -- and we had some interesting ideas -- the marriage was doomed. Why pretend to be happy together if there are no cameras to capture it?

4. Is any press really good press?
As TV viewers, gossip rag readers and general pop-culture pros know, any press is good press -- usually. In this case, fans saw waving red flags that this relationship wasn't built on much more than sexual attraction and a willingness to appear on reality TV together. Take, for example, Kim crying to stepdad Bruce Jenner just days before the wedding; Kris was only allowed to come in to talk to her after the make-up team had touched her up again. He said something about hoping that one day she could show her emotions to him. Ding, ding, ding, ding! Get out now! The fact that Kim and Kris went through with their nuptials despite the red flags and warnings from family members -- and said nuptials were so totally over the top -- makes even the most loyal Kardashian lover skeptical about what else the family's been faking for the cameras.

5. Back to square one
This was even a bad business decision for Kris Humphries, who, before his Kardashian-ization, was a relative unknown in celebrity culture. Whereas L.A. Lakers player Lamar Odom's whirlwind romance and marriage to Khloe paid off (endorsement deals, more playing time, the aforementioned spin-off), this wham-bam-thankyouma'am Kris and Kim courtship kourtship would've worked in his favor had they not made it official, then unofficial again, so quickly. Look at Kim's football playing exes Reggie Bush and Miles Austin -- dating Kim did them well. But proposing, walking down the aisle and duping fans into thinking their love was legit leaves a bad taste in our mouths for both of them.

So it looks like no one really wins here, huh? Especially not E! viewers who wasted four hours of their lives watching a sham of a wedding special when they could've been doing any of this awesome stuff instead. Disagree? Tell us who you think comes out on top here.








What do you think: Was this short-lived marriage bad for business for both Kim and Kris?