The famous talk show host Oprah Winfrey, also the first African American woman to become a billionaire, just announced that next year she will step down from her talk show after 25 seasons. This is no better time than to look back on Oprah’s accomplishments, especially as the queen of celebrity endorsers. Her most recent successes include the voicing the Eudora, the mother of the first African American Disney princess, Tiana in The Princess and the Frog, and producer of the successful film, Precious.
There’s a lot people know about Oprah: she starred in The Color Purple and then produced it on Broadway, had Tom Cruise jump on her couch and loves John Travolta. She even has her own magazine, which Ellen DeGeneres dressed up as for Halloween and created her own television network for women, Oxygen. But if there’s anything that the public knows about celebrity power, it’s that everything that Oprah touches turns to gold.
Each week 44 million people tune into The Oprah Winfrey Show, making any product she recommends increase in sales. On Oprah’s Favorite Things, she features her product selections during the holiday season and offers these products as gifts to members of the audience. It is estimated that about 20 companies “strike gold” after being featured on her annual Favorite Things episode. In 2004, for example, “We Take the Cake” bakery shop was on the verge of bankruptcy until it was featured on the show. Soon after the feature, ten thousand cakes were sold and it became a million dollar business that sells high-end wedding cakes that sell from $5,000 to $20,000. In 2002 and 2005, Oprah recommended Garrett’s Popcorn in Chicago. After the first feature, sales in the month of December increased 100 percent and the company went from making the popcorn from 8 hours per day to 24 hours per day. Last year, when Oprah recommended Amazon’s wireless reading device Kindle, the gadget was sold out during the rest of the 2008 holiday season. Oprah’s Book Club, established in 2006, has also turned her books of choice into New York Times best sellers.
Oprah’s endorsements aren’t just limited to cakes, books and electronics, but boosting others to fame. It is because of Oprah that Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and Rachael Ray are so well known and now have television shows of their own. A study also showed that in her first public endorsement of Barack Obama may have won him one million votes. In the beginning of Oprah’s new season, the Black Eyed Peas performed, after which sales jumped 29 percent. Her interview with Whitney Houston caused her album sales to jump up 77 percent.
Oprah is also one of the leading celebrities in endorsing philanthropic causes. Whether it’s Oprah's Angel Network General Fund, O Ambassadors or the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls South Africa, Oprah has raised millions for charity.
As I previously mentioned in a past blog, Oprah has been named on of the most trustworthy celebrities. When named one of TIME Magazine’s most influential people, the article mentioned Oprah’s television power to blend public and private lives, linking strangers with stories and information in the privacy of their own homes. It is for this reason that viewers almost feel that they know Oprah and believe in her genuine desire for the wellbeing of others and the world. This gives her the real power of endorsement. There’s been no other single individual who has had so much celebrity power and credibility than Oprah.
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