Essay 1.1

Have you ever wanted something so badly, that you would do anything to have it in your possession? Has that something ever happened to be a product endorsed by a celebrity or athlete? This is the case for many people today. Anita Elberse writes in “Risks and rewards of celebrity endorsements”, how essential it is to have celebrity endorsements to be successful. She states that endorsements are flourishing in three ways. Celebrities help tap into the companies fan base, endorsements trigger sales by reassuring consumers of the quality of the endorsed brand, and that an alliance with an endorser can convey important information about an attribute that helps differentiate a brand from its competitors. Although endorsements may seem like a positive incentive for most major companies, there are risks involved and they are not always a good idea, not necessarily for monetary reasons but for the reputation of the company.

Elberse explains that celebrities help tap into the companies fan base. This can be seen in a negative light though. In 2005 Paris Hilton did a very risky commercial for Carl’s Jr., wearing nothing but a bathing suit and heels, washing a car eating their $6 hamburger. How does this tap into Carl’s Jr.’s fan base? What does washing a car have to do with their new burger? Commercials have become so farfetched that any celebrity can represent any brand. The younger generation look up to celebrities such as Paris Hilton, so if she does it is it okay to walk around in skimpy clothing? Younger children may think that whatever Paris Hilton does is cool, so they follow suit. But the case is that it has nothing to do with the product trying to be sold. Are these younger girls buying Carl’s Jr. burgers just because Paris Hilton represented them? The answer is no. This commercial failed to tap into the fan base of Carl’s Jr. because the fact is that people who buy that burger could care less about Paris Hilton.

Another reason why Elberse believes endorsements are successful is because they reassure customers that the quality of the brand is good. A great example of this is Maria Sharapova, female tennis star, endorsing the camera brand Canon. Sharapova is a phenomenal athlete, but what does she know about cameras or the quality of cameras? This just seems to be false advertising. People who are looking for a camera probably aren’t going to buy one based on the celebrity endorsing it. These endorsements make people believe that the product must be good if celebrities are using them, but the fact is they are being paid to endorse them so it doesn’t mean they are using them. Another example is actress Eva Longoria endorsing L’Oreal Paris hair color. Eva Longoria had millions of dollars and she is using hair color that can be found at Wal-Mart? Just because someone buys the same hair dye as Eva Longoria doesn’t mean their hair is going to look like hers. These commercials put images in people’s heads that the product must be good if celebrities are using them, but the fact is that just because they are endorsing the product doesn’t mean they are actually using the product. They are being paid to “use” these products, so of course they are going to say it is the best out there. But it is just false advertising, masking the truth.

The final reason Elberse states that celebrity endorsers are successful are because an alliance with an endorser can convey important information about an attribute that helps differentiate a brand from its competitors. Tiger Woods had a six year partnership with Accenture, which is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. While with Accenture he emphasized the attributes such as strategic focus and discipline, the payoffs of its risk-taking behavior, and its ability to recover from setbacks. But after Wood’s affair with other women was released, the firm decided to cut ties with him to limit a negative impact on its reputation. They believed that this publicized affair would put their brand in a negative light so they decided to do away with Wood’s altogether. Obviously Accenture cares more about their sales than all the money that Woods has previously brought in and had no problem dropping him. Reputation is everything to major companies, and if it is in jeopardy then they will do anything to salvage it.
Endorsements are not always a good thing. Yes they sometimes bump up profit, but there can be negative effects in the long run. Children growing up not thinking on their own because they are modeled after celebrities. Quality of brand not as good as expected so they don’t get repeat customers. Brands reputation means more to them than the actual product and the satisfaction of their customers. Celebrity endorsements play up image in order to get customers. Most of the time they are successful, but that doesn’t mean that the customers are going to be happy with the outcome.