Jeffrey Wolf, partner and director of account planning at Deutsch New York

The Olsen Twins need an evolution, not a revolution. The worst thing these girls could do is to suddenly try to be something they're not. A brand is enduring because it stays true to its values. As it grows it expresses itself differently, but the values it espouses must stay the same. The Olsens are about wholesomeness, good stuff, and they need to stay true to that. But here's what they're up against: Britney, the Hilton sisters, Jessica Simpson. Those women all care about being fabulous. They are concerned with surface over substance. In contrast, the Olsen twins are more concerned with substance. As the Olsen twins turn 18 this week, their problem (and I don't really know the answer to this) will become: Is it possible to be a "good girl" in your 20s and still be popular? Is it possible to be a sweet, nice girl and still be relevant to our times? The other girls have found great success with the mantra of "Watch what a slut I can be on TV! Can't believe it? It gets worse!" The Olsens are the exact opposite of that sleazy look-at-me...

They certainly have the brand equity to leverage in that area. Maybe, as they enter adulthood, their days of making money as entertainers are over. You know when those child stars grow up and you see them years later and they're freaks? I would hate to see that happen to the Olsens. But there's a strong chance that their persona might not translate into hot entertainment with broad appeal today. A lot of people have successfully managed to merchandise themselves, and right now might be the ideal time for the Olsens to get out of entertainment. Suzanne Somers might be a good model for them.

While they already sell so many products under their name, they might want to consider moving into the self-help realm. The Olsen twins seem to do everything right. To most little girls, Mary-Kate and Ashley are perfection personified (twice). They could team up to write a line of advice books: "How to Get the Guy, Olsen Twins Style," "How to Get the Perfect Job, Olsen Twins Style," "How to Achieve Inner Peace, Olsen Twins Style" (mind-body-soul is getting very mainstream now). I think they have a book publisher already, so they could work with them to develop their books. Then they could expand to a talk show, or a call-in radio program. Better yet, get on the Internet! Their target audience is all over the Web, so they should be, too.

J.T. LeRoy, novelist ("Sarah" and "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things"), band member and associate film producer

I gotta hand it to them: They kind of took the dirtiness and the shame out of the words "straight to video." They made their movies, then turned around and said, "You wanna laugh at us? Well, take a look at all this money!"

But the world of the Olsen twins is definitely not X-rated. I hear what people say about Britney Spears and other young female stars betraying their image by getting all sexy once they hit 18. I don't necessarily agree with that. Girls are always interested in what people are thinking of them. From puberty on, they know that older men are looking at them; that becomes their idea of power. I don't think that the Olsens would turn off their young female fans by entertaining this gaze. Nooo ... I think a lot of people live vicariously through them. They live the dream of what life would be like if you didn't have any acne, if you were beautiful, if you had lots of money, if you were a beloved, cornfed kind of classical American girl. Craving male attention is an extension of that.

And now that the Olsens are becoming adults, they're able to express their sexuality without any kind of wacky Christian condemnation. Magazines will be able to showcase that and capitalize off that without seeming all weird and creepy. I don't think that by sexing things up, they're betraying themselves, their image, their fans, at all. The Olsens are not necessarily interested in men or boys, because those aren't the people who will buy their videos or their products. These girls understand where power comes from. No one wants to see the Olsen twins get all fat and pimply ... not even the women who hate them.

They're sort of like Macaulay Culkin. If you look back, he was pretty hated by hip, punk types of my generation -- he was the antichrist. But now, yeah, I'd say he's pretty cool. He's trying, at least, and he's working on developing a kind of snarky appeal. It works for me, because Culkin's got a lot of rage, which I can understand.

See, that's where the Olsens need to go. I know they have a sense of humor -- look at that remark they made about being Howard Stern's fantasy -- and they've showed spunk, not prudeness, in response to the "almost legal" comments. If you can joke about yourself, that shows indie potential, a punk-rock attitude. I could totally see them in an indie film. Something would have to happen first, though. People who are into them wear "What Would Jesus Do?" T-shirts and make virgin pledges. They're just so squeaky clean. The twins would have to endure a torrid event, a public disgrace, because our society has very set rules. In order to change perception about someone, we need to be seriously shaken, like an Etch A Sketch. Look at Brooke Shields -- she had to do some big fat fucking falls on her face before she could move forward in her career. Their best bet would be to simply disappear for a while. Maybe one of them could break off from the pair and take on a lesbian role (but not with the other twin!) in an edgy foreign film, a role that would really prove some acting chops.

If they want to move into indie films, I would advise them to forge personal relationships with directors who believe in them. Here ya go, girls: Find some director whose daughter is a huge fan of yours and send them tons and tons of free shit, then convince the daddy that you are true actresses. Remind him: "Hey, who took John Travolta seriously? Whoever thought Macaulay Culkin or Brooke Shields should be taken seriously? That could be you, man. Just take a chance on us."

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