They should use it if they say they do. They don’t need to if they just say buy it and don’t make the claim that they use it.
My mom was a notary for many years. She worked for an attorney who represented a number of atheletes and she notarized several affidavits stating that [Whoever] (the undersigned) and cetera and so forth really did use [whatever].
IN the Florence Henderson Polident commercials does she ever say “Polident hold my dentures better?” or just “Polident is better for dentures”?
I wish everybody in an ad were identified as real or acting. Like the guy who says “Thanks for the advice on peripheral artery disease, my nephew the doctor” I’m sure they aren’t related and neither is a doctor, but they must think someone is fooled and that should be illegal.
There must be some rule about this regarding ads for lawyers, because lately I’ve never seen an ad for a lawyer that didn’t explicitly state that the person talking wasn’t a lawyer.
Usually when the trustworthy man sitting behind an oak desk is telling you They Mean Business, it’ll say “Not a lawyer” or “Paid endorsement” at the bottom of the screen. Of course, lawyers would naturally be quick to cover their bases.
Recently there was a TV ad that was just text on the screen with a recorded voice-over, and before the guy got into his speech about asbestos causes mesothelioma, he said “non-lawyer endorsement.” I don’t think there would be any confusion. The voiceover on Taco Bell ads doesn’t say “non-chef endorsement” before he starts talking about 79-cent burritos.
As for celebrities using endorsed products, in many instances part of the endorsement deal is that the celebrity will use that product in public. When Tag Heuer (or whatever) pays Daniel Craig to pose in an ad for their watches, his contract also states that he’ll wear Tag Heuer watches in public for some specified duration.
I must disagree.So a famous person does a comercial for pepsi.They aren’t allowed to drink pepsi now just because they endorsed the product?I think that it doesn’t matter who you are.YOu should be able to use whatever products you want.
Here there are strict laws about lawyer ads. I got a speeding ticket and got letters from lawyers - on the envelope and the letter it said in big letters "This is a solicitation for legal services. " So there might be strict laws for TV ads too.
Yes, celebrities should use the products they endorse. However, it is still possible for a celebrity to do a commercial as a gig and not as an endorsement. You can tell it’s Zach Braff doing the voice-over in those Wendy’s commercials, but it’s not an endorsement. It would be a different story if he were on screen talking about how he, Zach Braff, loves the Big Bacon Classic, but a gig is just a gig.
If they specifically claim to use the product, as opposed to just saying randomly nice things about it, and if they are appearing as themselves, rather than a character they are known as, then yes, they should use the product, or else the claim is untruthful.
Not that I really care one way or the other.
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
This was a rather old thread, wasn’t it? I’d forgotten I ever posted in it… but it appears the point I made earlier is still valid.
If Dale Earnhardt Jr. tells you “I love Taco Bell,” does anybody really care? It would be silly to buy a food product on a celebrity’s say-so (why makes Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s opinion on fast food any more compelling to you than mine or your brother-in-law’s or your paperboy’s?) in the first place. So, if it turned out later that Dale really hated Taco Bell’s food, I wouldn’t get outraged and accuse him of dishonesty. It was just a payday to him, and everyone watching should have known that.
On the other hand, if Dale endorses STP fuel additive and tells you it’ll make your car engine run much better… well, he’d BETTER use it, and he’d better hope the FTC never determines that STP is worthless. Because Dale Earnhardt Jr. is supposed to be an expert on cars, and when he endorses something related to his profession, viewers are inclined to take him seriously. Therefore, he has an obligation to tell the truth.
So, to use a few more examples (and belabor the point):
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If Billy Joel writes a jingle for a brand of blue jeans he doesn’t wear? Fine by me. But if he does an ad for Steinway pianos and he really plays Baldwins, that’s unforgivably dishonest.
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If Sly Stallone does a commercial for a cologne he never really uses, and implies it makes him irresistible to women… hey, that’s just silly puffery. But if he appears in a commercial for the Soloflex and implies that it’s responsible for his muscular physique… well, he’d be a contemptible liar if it turned out later he never used one.
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If Meg Ryan did an infomercial for a new line of high-tech kitchen gadgets, would I care if she didn’t really use them? Not a bit. But if Emeril Lagasse did such an infomercial, I’d think he was a fraud and a jerk if I learned that none of the line chefs in his restaurants use them. Nobody regards Meg Ryan as an expert on cooking, so her endorsement shouldn’t matter to you any more than your mother’s would. But when Emeril Lagasse endorses kitchenware, he’s posing as an expert. (On the other hand, I’ve seen Emeril’s commercials for Crest toothpaste, and wouldn’t care a whit if he really used Ultra Brite or Aim.)
It’s funny you should mention Billy Joel and Baldwin pianos, because IIRC, he did endorse them at one time, and he did play them. Or whatever brand paid him, he was already using them, and he said it was a matter of principle.
As for athletic endorsements, I remember a sequence in the comic strip Tank MacNamara, in which Tank (a pro footballer turned sportscaster) did an expose in which a tennis player, who had accepted a dump truck full of money to shill for Glurb sports drink, was seen courtside having his tumbler filled with Splatt sports drink. It’s not just a matter of fans being disillusioned; the companies take these things verrry seriously.
Hope the company stiffed him.
I remember a Domino’s Pizza ad from a few years back-where some NASCAR driver and his family were seen dining on one of those “pizzas” that Domino’s is famous for.
I got a laugh out of it, because:
-anybody making that much money can afford to eat real food
-Domino’s doesn’t really make pizza
Anybody remember this ad?
The main reason they should use what they endorse is that, being famous, people are going to notice if they don’t. And that will hurt the company. I think they should in the contract.
Of course, I don’t care if they also like a competitor. But even then, I’m sure there are contracts that won’t allow, say, a McDonald’s spokesperson to eat at Burger King.