# Arte celebrity Product endorsements Dishonest? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 12, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432 "2006-09-12T16:34:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/1 "2006-09-12T16:34:38Z")
I mean, does it really matter that Tiger Woods endorses Buick, even though he probably drives a Porsche? Or more mundane things-local has-been athletes shilling for a local furniture store. Why do advertisers still do this? Am I to concluded that because an NFL quarterback uses razor X, that i ought to? I’ve noticed-celebrity endorsements bring in a LOT of money-shouldn’t the ads contain a disclaimer…something like…" these claims have not been supported by factual evidence, endorsement is compensated? "? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2006, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/2 "2006-09-12T16:41:40Z")
I’d say part of wanting Tiger Woods in your commercial is for the thrill of saying afterward that you met Tiger Woods; people who shoot commercials have heroes, too. George Carlin: Do you have a product no-one will buy because it’s poorly built and doesn’t work properly? Likely to come apart at high speeds? Perhaps with toxic side effects? Well, give it to me and _I’ll_ sell it to them. You see, they trust me, because I’m a famous person. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/3 "2006-09-13T01:21:28Z")
Where does the dishonesty come in? And what about _non_-famous people in ads? Pick up a magazine and look at the people pictured in the ads: do you assume that those people, in real life, use those products? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/4 "2006-09-13T01:50:08Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Arte celebrity Product endorsements Dishonest? [/QUOTE] Methinks not. Dost thou? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/5 "2006-09-13T02:00:21Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] And what about _non_-famous people in ads? Pick up a magazine and look at the people pictured in the ads: do you assume that those people, in real life, use those products? [/QUOTE] Okay, maybe I’m crazy. I’m willing to admit it’s a possibility. But I swear I remember reading an interview with a person who was in a series of famous ads who said that they had gotten a shitload of [whatever product] from the company because they had to be able to honestly say that they used it. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/6 "2006-09-13T03:34:06Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Okay, maybe I’m crazy. I’m willing to admit it’s a possibility. But I swear I remember reading an interview with a person who was in a series of famous ads who said that they had gotten a shitload of [whatever product] from the company because they had to be able to honestly say that they used it. [/QUOTE] That is what happened with George Foreman and the amazing story of “his” grill mean machine: [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune\_archive/2003/06/09/343949/index.htm](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/06/09/343949/index.htm) > [@](#): > > In 1987, when he needed money for his George Foreman Youth and Community Center, Foreman rebuilt himself again, this time physically, and staged a comeback at age 37. > . . . > In 1994, wearing the same red trunks he had worn against Ali, a 45-year-old Foreman knocked out 26-year-old Michael Moorer to regain his heavyweight title, 20 years after he’d lost it. > > Because his comeback was so inspiring, and because he was suddenly so likable, the marketing world went wild over him. Ring magazine reported that Foreman’s lawyer received over 200 business proposals. It’s worth noting, though, that his success as a commercial endorser was–and still is–unusual in that boxers, even heavyweight champions, usually don’t make very good pitchmen. Every pro fighter wants to do endorsements, but they rarely do, says Ring editor-in-chief Nigel Collins, for two reasons. First, few companies want their products associated with such a violent sport. Second, most boxers just aren’t polished enough to sell products. Oscar de la Hoya’s good looks have earned him a few deals, but he’s an exception. Foreman, thanks to his revamped lovable-lug image, was an even bigger exception. > > . . . > > On the strength of his improbable comeback, Foreman got endorsement deals for Meineke, KFC, and Doritos, among others, but he wanted something bigger. His advisors put an idea in his head–why not put the George Foreman name on a product and keep more of the money for himself? Perhaps something connected to his well-known love for hamburgers? > > Around the same time, Salton was introducing a product called the Lean, Mean, Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine. It made its debut, sans Foreman, at the housewares industry’s Gourmet Products Show in 1994. (Dreimann, a movie buff, named it after a football team called “the Mean Machine” in the 1974 Burt Reynolds movie The Longest Yard.) Developed and brought to Salton by an Asian manufacturer, the grill was one of about 100 products Salton was offering to retailers that year, reasonably sure that most of them would never make it to shelves but hoping that two or three might become hits. The grill did not appear likely to be one of them. At the show nobody looked at it twice. But unbeknownst to Salton, an industry legend named Mike Srednick was aware of George Foreman’s interest in finding a product to endorse. He saw the grill and, with Dreimann’s blessing, took a sample to show a “mystery customer.” Because the grill had gotten such little notice at the trade show, Dreimann waived all rights to it and put Srednick directly in touch with the manufacturer. > > Srednick had connections to Foreman through an attorney named Sam Perlmutter, who had experience in the infomercial industry. Perlmutter got the grill in front of Foreman, but a few months later the champ hadn’t so much as turned it on. Perlmutter nudged him a little. Finally Foreman’s wife cooked a hamburger on it, and she got him to give the grill a try. When Perlmutter checked back, Foreman had an answer: “I like it. I tried it, and it works. Let’s do it.” > . . . > Under the original Foreman agreement, Salton would manufacture, market, and distribute the grill, and after expenses the profits would be split as follows: 40% to Salton, 45% to Foreman, and 15% split between Srednick and Perlmutter. The deal was almost unheard-of in that Foreman received a percentage of the profits down the road but nothing up-front. Typically, endorsement deals are structured the other way around: The athletes get a single payment in advance for a certain number of days of work, a certain number of public appearances, and a set amount of advertising. But Dreimann was willing to give up 60% because the risk was minimal–Foreman wouldn’t get a dime until Salton’s expenses were covered, and expectations were fairly low. (A statement made by an analyst at the time showed equal enthusiasm for the I Love Bagels bagel maker.) Perlmutter felt the same. “If I sold 150,000 units, I would be dancing up and down Hollywood Boulevard,” he says now. They were in for a surprise. I still wonder why this tale was not made into a TV movie of the week. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/7 "2006-09-13T03:54:24Z")
[QUOTE=GIGObuster] That is what happened with George Foreman and the amazing story of “his” grill mean machine: [http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune\_archive/2003/06/09/343949/index.htm](http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/06/09/343949/index.htm) I still wonder why this tale was not made into a TV movie of the week. [/QUOTE] Man, I never thought a CNN Money article would give me the warm-and-fuzzies. Thanks for sharing that, ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/8 "2006-09-13T14:33:14Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Man, I never thought a CNN Money article would give me the warm-and-fuzzies. Thanks for sharing that, [/QUOTE] He seems like a genuinely nice guy who’s sincere about what he does. Makes me glad to own a Foreman grill. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/9 "2006-09-13T14:44:15Z")
All personal testimonials are inherently unreliable, because they can be bought or faked. Even if the testimonial is genuine, it represents just a sampling of opinion and the seller may be concealing a raft of complaints. One time in a car dealership I was waiting for a salesman and saw a notebook on a table with comments from customers about service. All the comments on the opened pages were favorable. I paged back a bit and found some complaints, then wandered off to look at something else. I returned a few minutes later to check out one of the negative reviews again and found that _someone_ had already turned the pages back to the flattering comments. 😃 Hard to think of a more ludicrous ad than Tiger Woods promoting Buicks. I mean, you could tell seeing him behind the wheel that he was thinking “Get me out of this thing before my image totally goes down the tubes!”. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/10 "2006-09-13T18:59:40Z")
The best local fried chicken chain advertises that it is the “official fried chicken of the Chicago Bears training table.” Unlike many such claims I have no doubt this is true. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/11 "2006-09-13T19:12:09Z")
What I find funny are the low rent local ads featuring long-forgotten sports stars pushing windows, furniture, etc. Or the athlete who has trouble with two syllable words, earnestly praising some kind of razor, cologne, etc. Do you eat Wheaties because (presumably) the late Mickey mantle did? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/12 "2006-09-13T22:54:24Z")
I have no problem with a celebrity endorsing a product if he or she actually uses the product. If I were a celebrity, I’d say, “I worked long and hard for this fame. If they want to pay me for it, I’ll take their money.” Buick is itching for a new market niche. The average age of their customer base is about 60, so they’re looking to be the right car for young, successful black people. Now, who’s the most successful YSBP who isn’t stained by crime, drugs, or misogyny? It’s Tiger, of course. So, they offered him a Buick or three (and a roomful of money,) to smile and say he drives a Buick (his golf bag says Buick, too.) What’s dishonest about that? He drives what he says he drives, and nobody thinks he’s doing those spots for free. He never says Buick is the best car in the world; he never even says all his cars are Buicks. He doesn’t say much at all. He just parks his million dollar smile in a new Lucerne. If you could get big bucks for driving a Buick, would you do it? You damn betcha! ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/13 "2006-09-14T02:30:26Z")
I remember an old “Saturday Night Live” skit where Mark Harmon (back when that meant something) started off a commercial selling beer or something, then broke character and said to the camera “Does it upset you that I’m selling this product? Well, don’t let it, I could be selling anything. I’m appealing to women without being threatening to men, and If I was pitching it, you’d buy nuclear war. Be happy it’s just beer.” It was funny, because it was true. I remember Robert Young dressed as Marcus Welby actually doing the “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV” bit. Why should someone with a high TV “Q” (whatever that means) be able to sell something they know nothing about? I don’t know, but they can. Just be happy they’re not selling something worse. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/14 "2006-09-14T09:17:43Z")
Why do you think a celebrity saying openly “I endorse this product” is more or less dishonest than a celebrity getting paid to appear in some kind of stunt to endorse the product (Magic Johnson jumping with Nikes for example) or some unknown actor being paid to play a doctor to endorse a toothbrush or similar? Almost all advertising is lying, manipulating, exaggerating/downplaying; not an objective comparision of facts so you can make an informed decision. That’s what consumer protection groups do. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/15 "2006-09-14T14:39:15Z")
[QUOTE=constanze] Almost all advertising is lying, manipulating, exaggerating/downplaying; [/QUOTE] I agree whole-heartedly. On second thought, I’m not sure the “almost” is necessary… ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/16 "2006-09-14T20:05:19Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I mean, does it really matter that Tiger Woods endorses Buick, even though he probably drives a Porsche? [/quote] _Probably_ drives a Porsche? I think we need to know what sort of car(s) Mr. Woods drives before we can discuss the level of (dis)honesty involved. For all we know, Tiger could be a real-life dyed-in-the-wool LeSabre fanatic. ---
**Author:** ![ignoramus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@ignoramus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignoramus)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/17 "2006-09-15T09:10:57Z")
[QUOTE=Bill Hicks] Here’s the deal, folks. You do a commercial - you’re off the artistic roll call, forever. End of story. Okay? You’re another whore at the captialist gang bang and if you do a commercial, there’s a price on your head. Everything you say is suspect and every word that comes out of your mouth is now like a turd falling into my drink. [/QUOTE] Pretty much sums it up for me… ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/18 "2006-09-15T12:26:27Z")
When a certain online bank decided to start doing business in Spain, they had the problem of being the first of its kind. They hired a well-known second-generation newscaster for the ads, which he did for about 3 years. A few months ago, he was being interviewed on TV. The interviewer asked him about those ads. Excerpts from his responses: > [@](#): > > It was fun; I’m used to the camera of course, but in completely different settings… > > Since I’ve always worked on the news I wanted to make sure that what I said was true, so I reviewed the information they gave me, opened one of their first accounts here… > > The reason I’m not in their current ads? Well, they haven’t called again, that’s all. A recent financial scandal has hurt internet banking badly. Their current spokesman in the campaign that’s trying to sent the message “hey, we’re a _bank_, those guys weren’t!” without actually saying so: the newscaster. Still happily touting a bank where, yep, he does have an account and his mortgage. That’s one case where I absolutely believe he’s being honest as well as getting paid. The two are not incompatible. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/19 "2006-09-15T14:14:30Z")
[QUOTE=ignoramus] Pretty much sums it up for me… [/QUOTE] Because artists never want money? Such idealism! ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432/20 "2006-09-15T20:16:00Z")
Has any research ever been done to determine if celebrity endorsements increase the sales of a product? I would assume they do, or they wouldn’t pay the celebs big bucks, but I am just trying to picture the person who buys a product because his favorite athelete endorses it, and I just can’t see that there are that many people who would take their celebrity adoration as far as to have one tell them what products to use. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/arte-celebrity-product-endorsements-dishonest/372432.md?page=2)