Where is the Limit? : Celebrities peddling the wares of every product in sight

Once upon a time in a Hollywood long, long ago, advertising was a thing of class and strategy. When a movie star or singer attached their name and identity to a product or advertising campaign, it was done articulately with intense consideration. If you wanted to know what product Marilyn Monroe wore in bed, it was expressed with thought and creativity; “well Chanel No. 5, of course”. In today’s society with the rapid emergence and market saturation of reality television and gossip magazines, it seems that celebrities are hawking anything and everything they can get their hands on. The growing popularity of social media forums such as Facebook and Twitter have now made these celebrity endorsed product campaigns increasingly popular. The question that lingers is why is THIS celebrity endorsing THIS product and why should it matter to me? Does Peyton Manning really drive a Buick? And if so, what makes him an expert in luxury automobiles to the point that we should spend thousands of dollars upon his recommendation? In the 1950’s, it was not a far stretch to believe that Ms. Monroe, a sexy and fashionable icon would sleep with nothing more on than a few drops of the equally fashionable and iconic perfume. Well-placed ads in magazines and billboards displayed a rhyme and reason to the product and celebrity pairing. Today however, every time I log onto my Twitter account, I have celebrities posting about how they “Just ate the best (insert awesome product here)! Everyone go buy a (fill in the blank with awesome product)! #ad”. It is sneaky and manipulative and frankly, makes very little sense.

The most current trend is taking these tricky tactics one-step further with celebrities tweeting and posting pictures of themselves in front of well-placed products in order to incite purchasing purely on assumption that they endorse it. No Twitter characters are spent promoting the product. Rebecca Leffler of The Hollywood Reporter explains that this new tactic is designed to bypass long-term contracts and messy connections between products and unpredictable and media fodder celebs. This short-term relationship allows a product line to escape any potential backlash from an artist scandal while still creating a brand linked to a star personality. The stars (no matter their placement on the “ Hot List” hierarchy) are being paid overtly large amounts to link themselves and their 140 characters or Instagram accounts to a product. Christina Rexrode of The Huffington Post reports that Khloe Kardashian collects upwards of $8000 per promoted Tweet, no matter the product, its affiliation, or potential competition to her own brand.

http://www.eurweb.com/2012/05/kim-kardashian-does-she-endorse-any-products-that-arent-dubious/ 

While celebrities have always garnered attention and amazement from the general public allowing companies to sell products and gain instant credibility when linked, there is an apparent lack of cohesion present in today’s celebrity endorsements. There is not enough thought going into why certain products should be promoted by specific celebrities. Furthermore, there is a serious lack of responsibility on the part of stars on which products to endorse. When lawsuits for the Kardashian credit card, Kardashian endorsed Sketchers and Kardashian endorsed Quick Trim all appear, the consumer needs to be aware of the possibility that money, and not quality or even personal usage, is what drew the celebrity to the product.