Focusing on the Power of Celebrities

When I first started this blog, I expressed my interest in exploring advertising. I began contemplating which aspect of advertising I wanted to look into and I realized that most ads possessed a very powerful common denominator: the celebrity. Think about it: almost everything is sold with the power of the celebrity. The news is sold with the face of Obama. Barnes & Nobles sells it's books with the face of Oprah. Paris Hilton sold us Guess clothing for a time and Katie Holmes gave us Neutrogena. Essentially, almost everything we buy and consume has a famous celebrity plastered all over it!

In this blog, I want to investigate why celebrities--from politicians and athletes to actors and socialites--become such a powerful selling point. Aside from popularity, it is clear that corporations indeed put a great deal of thought into who becomes a part of their brand image. It is through this lens which I will explore the meaning and impact of celebrity endorsements and how it affects consumer behavior.