Click here to watch "Celeb."

There's nothing like the Hollywood notoriety of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears to add some juicy gossip to the increasingly heated attacks between John McCain and Barack Obama. Reaction to McCain's new ad, "Celeb" (subscription), has been widespread, divisive and, at times, simply sarcastic.

The Obama campaign released an ad of its own (subscription) Wednesday evening in response to McCain's attacks in general but clearly triggered by this latest spot. Citing media reports that denounce some attacks the Arizona senator has launched against Obama, an announcer says: "John McCain. Same old politics. Same failed policies." The ad then aims to reaffirm Obama's commitment to solving the energy crisis. This ad is fresh on the heels of another spot the Illinois senator's campaign released earlier this week also responding to McCain's barrage.

Comments from both campaigns, as well as the blogosphere, have circulated faster than perhaps even Hilton's infamous sex tape. Here's a roundup of a few noteworthy ones:

Obama's initial response, from Missouri, when a reporter asked him about the ad: "You know, I don't pay attention to John McCain's ads. Although I do notice that he doesn't seem to have anything to say very positive about himself. He seems to only be talking about me. You need to ask John McCain what he's for, not just what he's against."

McCain adviser Rick Davis, in a conference call with reporters Wednesday: "This ad obviously also addresses a unique facet in Barack Obama's campaign that is unlike any other campaign we've seen in modern political history. A campaign that is focused on the development of an enormous image of celebrity status.... In the early aspects of the ad, we have images of other celebrities that demonstrate that the focus of the Obama campaign has been as much to create that celebrity status of his as it is to discuss the hard issues that the American public are forced to debate during the course of this campaign."

The Boston Globe reports on McCain's overall ad strategy and gathers more quotes in response to "Celeb":

Steve Schmidt, a senior adviser to McCain: "Do the American people want to elect the world's biggest celebrity, or do they want to elect an American hero, somebody who is a leader, somebody who has the right ideas to deal in a serious way with the problems we face?"

Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor: The campaign "is unwilling to let false attacks go unanswered.... That is the careful balance. You need to respond to the McCain campaign's false negative attacks but also make sure you are talking about the issues central to Senator Obama's candidacy."

The Politico's Ben Smith also reported an e-mail response by Vietor that made use of a Spears song: "On a day when major news organizations across the country are taking Senator McCain to task for a steady stream of false, negative attacks, his campaign has launched yet another. Or, as some might say, ‘Oops! He did it again.’"

The Hotline's On Call blog gave a roundup of reaction from pundits appearing on Wednesday night's political talk shows.

So, what's socialite Hilton's take on the whole debacle? AP reports on spokesman Jason Moore's comment: "Miss Hilton was neither asked, nor did she give permission, for the use of her likeness in the ad, and has no further comment."