Celebrity Endorsements Gone Wrong

In the past week or so, we've seen a few celebrity endorsement deals go south - most prominently, Michael Phelps for Kellogg and Chris Brown for Wrigley's.

It was also rumored that Subway was considering dropping Phelps as a spokesperson after the Olympic gold medalist was photographed smoking marijuana at a college party. Now, even the conservative among us know that smoking marijuana is popularly linked to binge eating, so the fact that food brands were dropping endorsement deals exposed the companies to some amount of ridicule, including a Saturday Night Live skit surrounding Kellogg. Bloggers, forums and news writers have have been abuzz with clever quips about Subway sandwiches being the perfect food for college smokers nationwide.

The Chris Brown case unfortunately takes on a more serious note, as he was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend, the famous Rihanna. Brown has been suspended "until the matter is resolved" from his major endorsement deal with Wrigley's Doublemint Gum. The partnership was a new frontier in advertising - Wrigley's actually financed and produced Brown's song specifically for their campaign - a modern day, tricked out jingle, if you will. Brown also endorses a number of other projects - at this time it is not clear if these are also in jeopardy. He has been forced to pull out of his scheduled NBA All-Star Game appearance this weekend in Phoenix, surely meaning more lost revenue for the singer so that the NBA can save face.

The bigger question here is not what will happen to these individuals, but what will happen to celebrity endorsements as a whole. Marketers post big bucks to associate their brand with a celebrity - and this week has been a clear example of how these efforts can backfire, exposing a brand to ridicule or unpleasant associations and leaving an unpleasant taste (how appropriate, in this case) in consumers collective mouths.

Seinfeld and Gates to Take on Mac Ads in New Microsoft Campaign

Yesterday Microsoft rocked the blog-o-sphere with the announcement of a $300 million advertising campaign starring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld.

Microsoft is hoping to revamp their rep, or at least get a little love, in the wake of the popular Mac campaign depicting Window's users as, well, square. Not that Gates and Seinfeld are the coolest cats, but hey, they are mighty successful.

Seinfeld will reportedly get $10 million for the endorsement.

According to FBLA, other major stars, including Stephen Colbert and Sarah Silverman, may also be involved in the project. Right now, this can't be confirmed.

Olive Garden Concerned With Playboy Bunny Kendra's Rogue Endorsement

Kendra Wilkinson, one of Hugh Hefner's young girlfriends featured on the E! reality hit "The Girls Next Door," just happens to be a really big Olive Garden fan. She has been seen proudly waving doggy bags and heard raving about the endless breadsticks.

Most companies would welcome a bit of promotion on national television, right? It's like free product placement.

Well, apparently, Olive Garden, who has spent many years (and many dollars) building their family-oriented image, is not happy about being associated with a Playboy Bunny.

In 2008, Kendra, in cooperation with Playboy, held a national casting call for Olive Garden waitresses to be featured in a nude pictorial.

"Our position is that our team members as private citizens have freedom to participate," says Olive Garden spokesman Mara Frazier. "While we're not endorsing the initiative, we're not making choices for our employees."

Though Olive Garden has made no official moves to silence Wilkinson, they have expressed some discomfort with the association. According to The Wall Street Journal, Olive Garden has declined to comment on the issues, however, one official says the company has tried to walk a fine line with its response, maintaining the chain's wholesome image without alienating potential customers.

Retailers Rely on Star Power for Fall

Companies have been using celebrity faces to sell products since the early 1900s', when cigarette packets were bought just as often for the famous baseball cards as for the product inside. Today, you can't sit through a commercial break without seeing familiar famous faces appear, often more than once.

With celebrities acting both as representatives for products and as owners of their own lines, capitalizing on another's success is an everyday occurrence for big brands like Pepsi, Neutrogena and others. This fall, expect popular retailers to increase their focus on celebrity sellers, hoping to bring in the back-to-school spenders.

Advertising Age provides a run-down of some of the bigger players, expanded here:

KOHL'S - Avril Lavigne is will be partnering with Kohl's this year, joining Daisy Fuentes, Vera Wang, Tony Hawk, Lenny Kravitz, Hayden Panettiere, Vanessa Carlton, the Plain White T's and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.

SEARS - Welcomes LL Cool J to launch of his apparel line for juniors, young men and children. Sears also features Ty Pennington's furniture collection and High School Musical star, Vanessa Hudgens, will star in their back-to-school ad campaign.

WAL-MART - Father-son team Master P and Romeo join sisters Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, continuing the tradition of family lines at Wal-Mart. P. Miller Designs is set to launch its P. Miller and Miller Peaches lines, featuring cheap-and-chic clothing. Country star Taylor Swift is present in the Wal-Mart aisles this fall, showing off LEI Jeans.

JC PENNEY - Reality-TV star Kimora Lee Simmons is introducing Fabulosity, a line of urban sportswear for juniors. It will be part of Penney's "Breakfast Club" back-to-school campaign, which launches July 18. She joins designers Chris Madden and Nicole Miller.

BELK - Kristin Davis has announced a partnership with Belk, proving SJP isn't the only "Sex and the City" star with fashion sense. The "flirty and "feminine" line will retail for $38-$240 this fall.

MACY'S - Tommy Hilfiger will join the star-studded case of Macy's commercials this year, which in the past have featured Martha Stewart, Donald Trump, Jessica Simpson and Usher. Beginning this fall, the designer men's and women's sportswear collections will be carried exclusively at Macy's. The store will also carry DKNY's new 'Edie Rose' line, designed by starlet Rachel Bilson.

More celebrity lines and partnerships for Fall:

• Jessica Simpson will add dresses to her growing collection.
• Eve will re-launch Fetish at select retailers.
• Reality-star Heidi Montag will continue her partnership with west coast retailer Anchor Blue.
• Lindsay Lohan is selling her new leggings line exclusively at Intuition.
• Paris Hilton has designed a line for Dollhouse clothing.

Incognito Advertising - Kanye West for Absolut Vodka

Absolut Vodka's new viral campaign featuring Kanye West is creating buzz in the marketing world... hopefully it will succeed in creating the same buzz among consumers.

The ads feature tiny tablets that, upon consumption, will help the Average Joe transform in to hip-hop superstar Kanye West. Subway posters and mock infomercials touting the tablets don't even mention the Absolut product. Intrigued parties will find that a visit to the advertised website, BeKanyeNow, will quickly redirect them to Absolut's Kanye-centric homepage.

This ultimate (or should I say Absolut) form of viral marketing causes consumers to take action in order to find out what the Kanye campaign is all about, thereby creating an instant connection with the brand's message. It results in people actually seeking out informaiton about the vodka instead of just passing by one more white-noise ad on the subway.

View the Be Kanye infomercial.

Image via nysun.com.