As we mentioned last week, we received a cease-and-desist letter from the attorneys of People magazine. This letter asked us to remove a tiny promotional thumbnail image (comparable to a teaser trailer for a film, really) of the much-anticipated postnatal Christina Aguilera cover. We complied with the request as did Celebitchy, our higher-trafficked BFFs. It’s a damn shame that free and harmless publicity is no longer welcomed by tabloids, for their tactics seem to have backfired:

People magazine is estimated to have paid $1.5 million for this week’s exclusive photos of Christina Aguilera and her new baby, but early estimates from the President’s Day weekend sales show consumers have had a rather tepid response to the issue so far.

The issue, which hit late last week, is on target to sell only around 1.3 million copies this week, according to several industry sources, though one estimate put the number slightly higher to 1.5 million copies. People, Time Inc.’s top moneymaking title, ordinarily averages 1.4 million copies a week on newsstands.

This chilling effect is not entirely unexpected, and I’m curious what results will come from the reported $4 million Jennifer Lopez twins deal. She and Marc Anthony cannot even put asses in movie seats let alone sell pictures of their babies that will — let’s face it — look like most other babies in this world.