Taco Bell recently suffered from the wrath of a celebrity after using 50 Cent in an ad campaign without telling him about the mention of his name. The fast food company tried to use 50 Cent in an advertisement, a comic letter addressed to 50 Cent, asking if he'd change his name to 79, 89 or 99 Cent in promotion of the chain's low-cost menu. The rapper sued Taco Bell for $4 million due to the fact that he was being used to endorse the fast food without his knowledge. Customers also thought that he had "sold out" due to the widespread endorsement, which is not favorable for either the credibility of the endorser or the brand.
The FTC disclosure policy, which goes into effect tomorrow, will start penalizing companies, not the individuals who make the undisclosed endorsements. This has come to the attention of the media when tennis star Serena Williams recently tweeted twice about Nabisco's 100 Calorie Pack snacks without disclosure. In fact, Serena and her sister, Venus Williams, as well as Eli and Payton Manning are "brand ambassadors" for Nabisco. They appeared in various Nabisco commercials, including the Oreo Double Stuf Racing League campaign. The FTC keeps stressing that the celebrity in blogs, tweets or otherwise must let consumers know that they are singing praises for a product because they are being paid to do so! It was only after buzz about her tweets that she also mentioned that she was shooting the commercial with her sister.
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.
Ashton Kutcher, the former star of That 70s Show and host of Punk'd, is the new face of Nikon cameras. It is interesting to note that the url for the COOLPIX camera is: www.ashtonscoolpix.com. The new Nikon camera is sleek, fashionable and colorful. Kutcher is trendy enough to promote the COOLPIX model, especially with is connection to Twitter. The celebrity is a frequent user of Twitter, which he is currently used to promote Nikon’s Film Festival, “a user-generated content contest for people to submit "a day through your lens" video for the chance to win $100,000.” In his short video, Kutcher documented his trip to Africa with his wife, Demi Moore. Kutcher has four million Twitter followers, which Nikon is clearly using to its advantage.
After much exposure during the VMA Awards and her latest tour, Taylor Swift is now an endorser for the Band Hero video game. In her new commercial, Taylor Swift performs alongside Rivers Cuomo from Weezer, Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy and Travis Barker from Blink-182.
The commercial starts out with the classic opening scene from Tom Cruise’s Risky Business. The celebrities were true to Cruise’s rendition with white socks and button down shirts. As the walls of the living room fade away, Taylor moves out onto an arena and into a crowd while performing her hit song, “Love Story.”
While various celebrities from Heidi Klum and David Cook from Michael Phelps and A-Rod have endorsed this video game, this month Gwen Stefani of No Doubt announced that she was suing Activision, the company that makes Band Hero, because her band avatars were only supposed to sing three of her original band songs. Instead, players of the video game can use images of Gwen Stefani to perform songs like the Rolling Stone’s “Honky Tonk Woman.” While it is evident that celebrities drive the sales of this video game, such endorsements deals are at the center of legal dispute and increase the risk liability for companies who hire stars.
Celebrities have become predominant endorsers for various fragrances, most famously Nicole Kidman for Chanel's No. 5 and Anne Hathaway for Lancome's Magnifique:
Celebrities, however, have taken full advantage of the perfume industry--becoming endorsers for their own fragrance. It seems as though every new star launches a perfume line. In fact, there are more new fragrances released in a year than in the 1970s and 1980s combined. In this competitive industry, stars know the power of their names--and so do the companies.
The article features rapper 50 Cent, who released his cologne "Power," had loyal fans lined up to buy the new scent. During the premiere of the line at Macy's, customers of the perfume had the opportunity to take a picture with the star. As an excited fan and customer of the perfume said: "It's not the perfume, it's his energy." This is a primary example of the fact that celebrity brands indeed sell.
The NPR article states that perfume is the best tool to monetize the celebrity, even more so that clothes, music or movies. The celebrity brands, such as J. Lo, Gwen Stefani and Sarah Jessica Parker, saves millions of dollars in advertising because the consumer has knowledge of the product from the moment it hits the counter. It is the name, not the perfume that sells.
Britney Spears launched her Circus Fantasy perfume on August 27, 2009 as a part of her theme for her newest record and world tour. Not only are her fans attracted to buy this product, but especially the younger demographic that hopes to emulate her power, popularity and sex appeal.
J. Lo's new scent, however, "My Glow," was inspired by the "glow" that motherhood creates. In contrast to her edgier fragrance lines, this softer scent seems to capture the love, pride and happiness that she feels as a new mother of twins. Regardless of the targeted demographic, it seems that celebrities can use their name as a strong and appealing brand.
About four years ago, New York University students walked to class hoping they would run into Mary Kate Olsen, catch a sighting of Haley Joel Osment on the elevator or sit in on a Tisch class with Mara Wilson. Even Hilary Duff, who is a guest star on Gossip Girl, is playing a famous star who comes to NYU to have a "normal" college experience, inspired by Emma Watson's enrollment at Brown this past fall. It is not only Tisch that attracts these stars, but NYU is the home of the avante-garde and artistically creative. Even students in CAS often seem to have a guitar in hand, making it even more likely that somewhere down the line that NYU students are headed for stardom. NYU is the place where celebrities come to attend school or at least where they start out.
"NYU student" Hilary Duff on the set of Gossip Girl
It seems like Lady Gaga has no problem returning to NYU for
a guest appearance in Gossip Girl's newest episode this Monday.
However, it seems that these days NYU is going gaga for more than Lady Gaga, who was also enrolled at NYU before she hit it big. This past week, Emma Thompson, Matt Damon and Spike Lee were on campus, making it seem more than a natural coincidence that they happened to be here at the same time. On Tuesday, the British star Emma Thompson alongside Mayor Bloomberg, opened her art exhibit "JOURNEY" with a high-profile press conference. Emma Thompson's walk-through exhibit told the story of a 19-year old girl who was beaten and forced into sex trafficking.
This week, as a part of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute "Primary Sources" series, Spike Lee discussed his work with NYU writer-in-residence James McBride.
Matt Damon contributed to a discussion of a History Channel documentary entitled, "The People Speak." NYU, Cooper Union and the History Channel sponsored the event called "The People Speak Live."
It is from each of these project that demonstrate NYU's use of star power to not only to attract attention in the media and boost its reputation, but more specifically to grab the attention of students who are filling out the last of their college applications as Thanksgiving break approaches. This presence of the celebrity on the campus of New York University not only popularizes the college experience here, but makes prospective students believe that NYU is the place where they'll someday find fame. Celebrity endorsements are not only for fashion, cars and electronics, but for institutions of higher education.
