Rhetorical Analysis

In Anita Elberse’s opinion article, “Risks and rewards of celebrity endorsements”, she explains how essential it is to have celebrity endorsements to be truly successful. Her claim is that the rewards of relying on endorsers very likely far outweigh the risks. She goes on to give evidence saying that she found that sales for brands jumped an average of 4 percent in the first six months following an endorsement deal. Also that endorsed film’s can be expected to increase nearly a quarter percent and they continually increase every time the athlete secures a major victory. The audience of this article is just anyone who takes an interest in the topic. She is trying to sway her opinion that celebrity endorsements are good for all those who think they are not and saying it to anyone that will listen. What motivated Elberse to write this, the occasion of the article, is mostly the partnership between Accenture and Tiger Woods, how Woods had a negative impact on its reputation so they decided to drop him after a six-year relationship. The purpose is to explain that even though Accenture dropped Woods, endorsements are overall successful. Elberse’s argument could have been stronger if she had used all three rhetorical appeals instead of just logos which is the only one expressed in this article. Despite that flaw she is still very adamant that the idea of celebrity endorsements is booming, and gives several reasons why.

Elberse says that endorsements work as well as they do because 1) celebrities help firms to tap into their fan base, 2) endorsements trigger sales by reassuring consumers of the quality of the endorsed brand, and 3) an alliance with an endorser can convey important information about an attribute that helps differentiate a brand from its competitors. Her reasons very well portray the basis of endorsements, but what she leaves out are the negative effects of celebrity endorsements. Elberse doesn’t explain any other views. She does say that “marketers who rely on athlete endorsers know they can be in for a rocky road…and they need to adapt accordingly.” She acknowledges the fact that having an endorser can be tough at times but ultimately it is worth it because of all the success the company gains from them. What about the negative effects? This article clearly neglects any possibility that endorsements can be harmful. In my opinion, even though Elberse explains very well all the positive points of endorsements, there are also negative views, and I am going to explain them in my argument.