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Are Celebrity Endorsers A Zombie Scandal Waiting to Happen?

UPDATED Dec. 29, 2015 — Scroll down and see mention of Peyton Manning for link to a potential “Zombie Scandal”.

By Alex Greenwood

America is excellent at inventing things, and celebrities are a huge export these days. For good or evil, we’re up to our collective rear ends in the rich and famous.

I’m fairly dubious of America’s fascination with celebrity culture; only rarely do I think we elevate worthwhile people to high status for good reasons. However, even in my cynical eyes, some celebrities are legitimate. For example, I think Captain Sully Sullenberger is one, because he did something heroic and seems to be a very decent human being. That perception of Sully is good for anything he endorses.

Then again, we are plagued with innumerable celebrities possessing no discernible talent, history of success or reason to be famous other than effectively maximizing the circumstances of their family or birth (see Kardashian, Kim; Hilton, Paris; or Family–UK, Royal) or making a public spectacle of themselves (see TV, Reality).

The pattern seems to be: 1. celebrity created, 2. maxes out their 15 minutes of fame, 3. makes bank by being used to promote a brand, 4. they fade out and are discarded (or 5. continue being a celebrity and live to promote other brands).

But at what price using celebrities for brands? Are celebrities a risky proposition for your brand? All too often, the answer is a resounding yes.

 

Jared_Fogle_(2007)

Jared Fogle (Photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.)

The easiest, most recent example is Jared Fogle, the everyman Subway spokesman who lost hundreds of pounds on the “Subway Diet,” then apparently also lost his mind and became a sexual predator.

Sure, Subway had no idea, and they did the right thing by immediately cutting ties when there was a whiff of trouble–but potentially long-lasting damage to the brand is done.

Bill Cosby stopped being the Jell-O Pudding pitchman years ago, but if Internet memes are any indication, his alleged assaults on women have created a sort of “zombie scandal” for the brand–he’s not their endorser, but his legacy with that brand lives on like the monsters in The Walking Dead–and is just as nasty.

Certainly, Jell-O is many years removed from Cosby’s stint as the face of pudding, but if you’re over age 35 or so, how can you not think of pudding pops when you hear his voice and see his name attached to a story of yet another women accusing him of sexual assault?

The list of similar situations is pretty long:

  • Years ago, current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump ticked off plenty of people for his remarks about President Obama, Rosie O’Donnell and others…I wonder if it gave Omaha Steaks pause about sponsoring The Celebrity Apprentice? His latest bout of verbal diarrhea cost him Macy’s distribution of his fashion line. Certainly his brash persona has paid off for Trump personally so far–but once (if?) his candidacy flames out, I wonder how many brands will ever hire him again?
  • Paula Deen’s racially-charged remarks and actions led to her being dropped by Smithfield Foods, and her line of products was unceremoniously dumped from Target and Wal-Mart shelves.
  • Though not strictly a celebrity spokesman, reality TV star Josh Duggar cost his family their show on TLC (when did “The Learning Channel” STOP being about learning, by the way?) with word of his molestation of minors…and this week we learn he was also caught up in the Ashley Madison hacker dump.
  • Numerous examples abound. Reach back a few decades, and you have Hertz Rent-A-Car and the now-notorious O.J. Simpson. How many brands wish they could go back in time and rethink their relationship with Tiger Woods, Madonna, Michael Vick, etc.?

Here’s the thing: celebrities are human beings. They have flaws, foibles and failings. A brand considering using a celebrity has to weigh the risks of welding a celeb’s name to their marketing activities.

Peyton_Manning_(cropped)If everything goes well, you have Dennis Haysbert with AllState or Michael Jordan for Nike or Peyton Manning for Papa Johns (Wait–did I speak too soon about Mr. Manning? Click here.).

If it goes wrong, well, see above.

But there is also the question of the effectiveness of celeb endorsers. According to Ace Metrix, the practice of paying millions to a celebrity to get brand awareness is questionable:

“This research proves unequivocally that, contrary to popular belief, the investment in a celebrity in TV advertising is very rarely worthwhile,” said Peter Daboll, CEO of Ace Metrix. “It is the advertising message that creates the connection with the viewer in areas such as relevance, information, and attention, and this remains the most important driver of ad effectiveness.”

I think there is also the issue of whether people remember the celebrity, but not the brand they represent. Sure, we see Leonardo DiCaprio in a glossy magazine shot showing off a fancy watch. But which brand is it? Rolex, Citizen, Omega? I love watches and I honestly do not remember.

The chance for serious public relations damage, coupled with the very real possibility that even a good, positive celebrity spokesperson provides little return on investment anyway, warns brands to be circumspect about bringing a expensive celebrity into the marketing mix.

Me? I think I’d forgo the celeb (except maybe Sully if I could get him) and save the millions for a targeted campaign about the features and benefits of my product or service. Maybe save it all for a Super Bowl ad.

Those ads come and go fast…no chance of a Zombie Scandal.

Yeah…now there’s a good idea.

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