Celebrity Spokespeople: More trouble than they’re worth? I’ll decide for you

The new face of your company

We need a spokesperson!  See if Gary Busey is available!

This sentence has probably never been said by anyone ever.  But it is true that a lot of companies feel like the best way to reach their customers is through a familiar face.

Companies go to great lengths to choose the right person to front their product.  If the celebrity that is chosen has some sort of scandal in the middle of a campaign, they will get yanked.

One of the most recent examples would be Atlanta Falcon’s quarterback Michael Vick.  3 years ago he was the “it” guy in the NFL.  He was fast becoming one of America’s most marketable sports personalities, when his dogfighting scandal surfaced.  His contracts with Nike, Coca-Cola, Rawlings,  and his team were all terminated.

Of course big companies like Coke and Nike were able to rebound, but had an up and coming company been attached to Vick, they would have had a crippling PR disaster on their hands

Another memorable celebrity/sponsor tiff would be Madonna and Pepsi in the 80s. Pepsi based an entire ad campaign around Madonna’s song “Like a prayer.”  Pepsi was less than displeased with the racy interracial love scenes and burning cross featured in the video.  Needless to say the campaign was dropped. 

Companies are really gambling when they place their product in the hands of celebrities.  With media outlets who’s sole purpose is to report celebrity news and most likely mishaps (TMZ, E!, Access Hollywood), it is important for companies to choose wisely.  On that same note, our celebrity obsessed culture is asking for famous faces to front brands.  It is truly a catch 22. 

Using a celebrity can have its advantages.  If you use the right celebrity the right way, it can really do wonders for your brand. For example: Old Spice using Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher to sell their Swagger deoderant. 

He has a squeaky clean criminal record and a hall-of-fame career.  What else could they ask for?

My conclusion on celebrity selling products is this: any kind of publicity is good publicity.  Even if the celebrity you choose messes up, as long as your company’s name gets mentioned (and you have good PR people) then you should have nothing to worry about.  Whatever helps get your name in the public eye.