Rihanna's Tarnished Image

The famous pop star Rihanna stepped into the world of ad endorsements when she collaborated with Totes to sell her very own umbrellas in honor of her top single sensation, "Umbrella." Rihanna's success was at an all time high, scoring deals with Gilette, Cover Girl and most impressively the fashion powerhouse, Gucci.

As seen in Emma Watson's Burberry endorsement, high fashion corporations are particularly careful when selecting the faces of their brand. In fact, it's very rare that a celebrity is used. However, Rihanna, who has tattoos herself, offered an edgy and modern image that complemented the Gucci designer's Frida Gianni's "Tattoo Heart" collection. Rihanna not only strengthened the visual component of the line, but also the conceptual idea to leave your mark, like a tattoo, on someone's heart. A portion of the line's proceeds were donated through UNICEF to children in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rihanna projected an image of both strength and philanthropy which reflected well on Gucci.

However, after Rihanna's assault, the celebrity's image has been tarnished, even though almost everyone would agree that this incident was Chris Brown's fault and she should not have to suffer for his actions. However, no company has yet offer to renew their endorsement deal. This is just one example of how companies simply will not risk tarnishing their brand image. There is very low tolerance for celebrity misbehavior. Even though Rihanna continues to speak out about the abuse she faced, her reconciliation with Chris puts her in a very bad position...

Celebrity Power

As I have continued to investigate the nature of celebrity endorsements, I have been exploring what actually gives the celebrity his or her power. According to P. David Marshall’s Celebrity and Power: Fame in Contemporary Culture, the celebrities are able to assert their power because they are so well-known, thus creating a “definable and publicizable personality” (11). This is not just the ability to harness a great deal of attention and popularity, but the fact that the celebrity becomes a “valued human identity,” which possesses convertibility of value. In this way, the celebrity is conceptualized as “pure exchange value points.” (19).

It is rather difficult to assess what "power" really means, however, Forbes breaks this system of ranking down according to pay scale by the million, web rank, press rank and television rank. According the the chart below, it is shocking to see that Angelina Jolie ranks first, when she earns $27 million, in comparison to Oprah's $275 million and Madonna's $110 million. However, the Forbes ranking suggests that it is not wealth that is power, but the sheer amount of force that a celebrity predominates the media landscape. With a web rank and television rank of 3, and press rank of 5, it is seen that Angelina draws her celebrity power from the frequency by which she is in the public eye. The Forbes video indicates that Angelina has not only starred in various films, but she has appeared on a record number of magazine covers, constantly in the media for her relationship with Brad, her children and her philanthropic work here and overseas.

This is an interesting point of analysis as people often believe that it is wealth that contributes most to power. Jolie's high rankings is actually a testament to the fact that consumers don't just want a pretty face, but look for that unique and engaging personality, which I previously referred to as "valued human identity." In fact, the Forbes video mentions that the Rihanna and Chris Brown controversy kept the young pop star in the media, but not for very long. Due to the fact that Jolie is able to create interest for a prolonged period of time, she possesses that power that is central to an effective media endorsement.

Rank	Name	Pay ($mil)	Web Rank	Press Rank	TV Rank
1	Angelina Jolie	27	3	5	3
2	Oprah Winfrey	275	4	8	2
3	Madonna	110	9	6	8
4	Beyonce Knowles	87	2	20	16
5	Tiger Woods	110	54	4	4
6	Bruce Springsteen	70	32	19	25
7	Steven Spielberg	150	48	26	48
8	Jennifer Aniston	25	6	30	21
9	Brad Pitt	28	11	7	6
10	Kobe Bryant	45	53	10	15