It's common knowledge that celebrity endorsers add to the perceptions of the brands they represent. When Michael Phelps was caught smoking pot, Kellogg's immediately dropped him as an endorser because his actions weren't aligning with the cereal company's family values, Tiger Woods was dropped as a sponsor after his shameful affairs were exposed, and many other celebrities have been given the boot after their actions threatened to reflect poorly on the brands they were aligned with.
Companies choose celebrities to endorse their brand because they will increase awareness and add the positive associations that people have with them to the brand. However, celebrities are only human and bound to make mistakes that don't mesh with what the brand wants to convey, making such endorsements risky.
The Harvard Business Review makes an interesting point that the potential reputation damage can go both ways. Celebrities may be people but they are also brands themselves and need to take care of their image and credibility. If a celebrity chooses to endorse a brand with a tarnished image, it can make them look bad too.
It really is interesting how much of an effect celebrity endorsements can have on both the product and celebrity. Just last week I saw a commercial starring Rachel Bilson - for Magnum Ice Cream? I first thought that if Rachel Bilson is doing ice cream commercials, she must really not be getting good acting jobs. However, then I thought that the commercial as a whole was bizarre for an ice cream add - it felt dreamy and chic, but it was only ice cream. Alas, I obviously felt it was necessary to google it. Turns out, Magnum Ice Cream has a deal with Rachel Bilson and (drum roll please): Karl Lagerfeld. Lagerfeld is directing three videos for Magnum, starring Bilson. No wonder, the commercial looked like it had Chanel written all over it.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this is just another example of what kind of an effect endorsements can have: initially I saw ice cream and thought negatively of Bilson's acting career; however, after finding out what was really up, it only makes her more credible as an actress and celebrity to be working with the likes of Lagerfeld. And honestly, all of this hype really just makes me want to get some Magnum Ice Cream - so their strategy worked!
Regarding the Phelps and Woods scenarios, it is true that celebrities are people and make mistakes, and thus, the companies should take this risk into consideration. However, I think that celebrities like these should be more responsible and understand that, sure, they are human and people make mistakes all the time, but they are the ones choosing to develop themselves as a brand and make a career off of themselves. They are the ones choosing to merge their personal and work lives together, and in doing so, they should treat their life as they would treat a product that they are selling, and know that if someone is paying to be linked to their brand, they should be responsible for upholding the integrity of that agreement.
I agree with you about Michael Phelps. He is only human, but being a great, publicized athlete, it comes with a price. Yes, as a celebrity you get special treatments and great perks, but you also lose your privacy. Basically, you have to be careful with the decisions you are making and you must be responsible for your actions and choices. The big question is: Do the benefits of being a celebrity outweigh the negatives (no privacy)?
ReplyDeleteI agree that one big question is “do the benefits of being a celebrity outweigh the negatives (no privacy)?” However, I think that this question covers up a tougher and more important question that people don’t like asking: are the benefits of being a celebrity worth being held accountable and responsible for all of your actions by the public? The reason I say this is because, yes, celebrities have trouble getting privacy, but it is not impossible to find when you really need it. I have seen countless celebrity interviews where they say that you can find privacy when you really need it – whether it’s leaving on vacation, strategically getting away from the paparazzi, or just putting on a hat and sunglasses. What I think people fear about losing a lot of their privacy is that all of their mistakes are now being watched over and aired. Making a mistake in the privacy of your own little world versus making a mistake that the entire world knows about is intimidating. It puts a lot of pressure on someone to live up to a moral standard that they would not be held to by so many people if they were not famous; however, this is not an unknown factor on the road to becoming a celebrity, and it is something that a person must stay aware of and know that every move they make they should ask themselves if they would be proud of themselves if the entire world found out about something they were doing – because if they are thoughtful in this sense, having a lack of privacy would become a smaller problem of trying to find places, disguises, or strategies to get some alone time.
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