Social media offers a previously unparalleled opportunity for engagement with brands, companies and users due to the instantaneous access to significant part of the global population. Social media platforms are sophisticated enough to enable specific targeted advertisement (e.g. on Facebook) or to enable the club to provide adverts and links to existing offerings. However engaing with promotional activity online Celebrities and brnads need to think carefully about wether generating revenue may damage their reputation in the long term.
Examples
A health advocacy group has called on pop star Beyonce Knowles-Carter to end a multi-million dollar endorsement deal with PepsiCo Inc., saying the singer shouldn’t support unhealthy products. (Image courtesy of Pepsi.com)
She’s the latest celebrity to draw criticism over endorsement deals and product lines, joining the likes of Kathie Lee Gifford and Kim Kardashian.
Beyonce’s Pepsi deal was announced earlier this month by the soda maker. Neither the singer’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, nor PepsiCo could be reached for comment.
“Your image is one of success, health, talent, fitness, and glamour,” CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson wrote in the letter to the pop star. “But by lending your name and image to PepsiCo, you are associating your positive attributes with a product that is quite literally sickening Americans. We doubt that PepsiCo would spend $50 million unless it was confident that it could recoup many more times that amount…”
“…I imagine that it must be hard for anyone to turn away $50 million,” he wrote.
Jacobson urged Beyonce to donate the money to charity if she continues with the deal, which includes performing during the halftime show at the National Football League’s Super Bowl on Feb. 3.
Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages like sports drinks, juice drinks, and soda comprises the largest source of added sugar in the diets of America’s youth, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Beyonce isn’t the first, nor likely to be the last, celebrity to hawk a product that’s been criticized. Endorsements are windfalls for celebs and can boost a company’s bottom line. Kim Kardashian and banned diet pills The reality TV star has been backing QuickTrim Suppress and Burn diet pills as a way to help lose weight, but the pills were banned in Australia after their effectiveness and safety were questioned. Kardashian and her sister Khloe also were named in a class action lawsuit this year over their backing of QuickTrim, according to EntertainmentWise.com. The lawsuit claims the dietary supplement is ineffective and unhealthy.
Nelly’s Pimp Juice The hip hop star sold this version of a non-carbonated energy drink inspired by his song of the same name. The drink quickly drew the ire of African American groups who said the drink degraded women, said Fox News. Nelly defended the beverage, which is no longer available.
Then there’s the celebrity endorsement deals the companies later wish they didn’t make.
Sure, companies love their celebrities when regular people like you and me buy their products. The love turns cold when the celebrity does something to fall out of favor. Tiger Woods and AT&T After his publicized sex scandal, pro golfer Tiger Woods lost deals with AT&T, Accenture, Gatorade, and luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer. Lance Armstrong and Nike After sponsoring the cycling great for more than a decade, Nike called it quits with Armstrong this fall after a report detailed allegations of doping.
Comment
Celebrities players need to consider the damage to goodwill with fans. The real opportunity Twitter presents famous people with an opportunity to be on Twitter as themselves and tweet messages which honestly represent something they think or are doing. If fans feel that they are being “used” this can cause irreparable damage to the relationship of trust as well as reputational damage to their brand. For advertisers who become associated with individuals who get caught amidst controvosy the importance of choosing representatives carefully is paramount.
Examples
A health advocacy group has called on pop star Beyonce Knowles-Carter to end a multi-million dollar endorsement deal with PepsiCo Inc., saying the singer shouldn’t support unhealthy products. (Image courtesy of Pepsi.com)
She’s the latest celebrity to draw criticism over endorsement deals and product lines, joining the likes of Kathie Lee Gifford and Kim Kardashian.
Beyonce’s Pepsi deal was announced earlier this month by the soda maker. Neither the singer’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, nor PepsiCo could be reached for comment.
“Your image is one of success, health, talent, fitness, and glamour,” CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson wrote in the letter to the pop star. “But by lending your name and image to PepsiCo, you are associating your positive attributes with a product that is quite literally sickening Americans. We doubt that PepsiCo would spend $50 million unless it was confident that it could recoup many more times that amount…”
“…I imagine that it must be hard for anyone to turn away $50 million,” he wrote.
Jacobson urged Beyonce to donate the money to charity if she continues with the deal, which includes performing during the halftime show at the National Football League’s Super Bowl on Feb. 3.
Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages like sports drinks, juice drinks, and soda comprises the largest source of added sugar in the diets of America’s youth, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Beyonce isn’t the first, nor likely to be the last, celebrity to hawk a product that’s been criticized. Endorsements are windfalls for celebs and can boost a company’s bottom line. Kim Kardashian and banned diet pills The reality TV star has been backing QuickTrim Suppress and Burn diet pills as a way to help lose weight, but the pills were banned in Australia after their effectiveness and safety were questioned. Kardashian and her sister Khloe also were named in a class action lawsuit this year over their backing of QuickTrim, according to EntertainmentWise.com. The lawsuit claims the dietary supplement is ineffective and unhealthy.
Nelly’s Pimp Juice The hip hop star sold this version of a non-carbonated energy drink inspired by his song of the same name. The drink quickly drew the ire of African American groups who said the drink degraded women, said Fox News. Nelly defended the beverage, which is no longer available.
Then there’s the celebrity endorsement deals the companies later wish they didn’t make.
Sure, companies love their celebrities when regular people like you and me buy their products. The love turns cold when the celebrity does something to fall out of favor. Tiger Woods and AT&T After his publicized sex scandal, pro golfer Tiger Woods lost deals with AT&T, Accenture, Gatorade, and luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer. Lance Armstrong and Nike After sponsoring the cycling great for more than a decade, Nike called it quits with Armstrong this fall after a report detailed allegations of doping.
Comment
Celebrities players need to consider the damage to goodwill with fans. The real opportunity Twitter presents famous people with an opportunity to be on Twitter as themselves and tweet messages which honestly represent something they think or are doing. If fans feel that they are being “used” this can cause irreparable damage to the relationship of trust as well as reputational damage to their brand. For advertisers who become associated with individuals who get caught amidst controvosy the importance of choosing representatives carefully is paramount.
RSS Feed