So what--he's number one in the world for 4 years and he thinks he can just sport that blazer?
Check out the Roger Federer shoes, custom made by Nike of course. I mean we've all seen celebrity endorsements, but come on Roger. You're taking it to the next level.Not surprisingly, he is bff's with this guy. I guess they have something in common.
Advertising, especially when involving or related to sports, relies heavily on celebrity endorsements. Companies like Nike, Adidas and Gatorade have, for all intents and purposes, turned athletes into Gods. One of Gatorade's commercials, featuring Derek Jeter, Maria Sharapova, Eli Manning and Dwyane Wade, claims that "Every game needs a hero."(I apologize for my lack of technological knowledge, but watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIlEv34dKVI)
These athletes have become heroes, every bit as much as Batman or G.I. Joe or Brad Pitt. Our society thrives on celebrity worship, and celebrity endorsements have become a gold mine in advertising. But how do we know that celebrities really use the products they say they do? I seriously doubt that Maria Sharapova walks around making every shot a powershot. But the NARB (National Advertising Review Board) claims they keep it ethical. Supposedly, the celebrity (or athlete) must have used the product and preferred it over other brands before they can sign a contract of endorsement. Maybe it's just me, but the offer of a multi- million dollar contract for wearing a swoosh on my head just might convince me that i 'prefer' Nike.
Another commercial, part of Gatorade's incredible G2 curiosity campaign, asks the quesion What's G2? In its latest installment, Lil Wayne answers, "the emblem of a warrior, the swagger of an athlete, A LOWER CASE GOD." So now we worship electrolytes, is this what I'm hearing? This spot again uses sports icons like Muhammad Ali, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, and the incredible JABBAWOCKEEZ. (Finally dancers are recognized as athletes, thank you.)Pleassse watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4dm-OnmLXY
I also loved G2's gorgeous website: www.gatorade.com
The point is, celebrity endorsements work. The question is, why? Do you really believe that wearing the same brand as your favorite sports hero will increase your batting average or first serve percentage? Is it about identity and belonging? How much more likely are you to buy a brand because of a celebrity that endorses it? I realize I have asked about 10,000 questions...sorry. Pick a few.
36 comments:
Celebrity endorsements work because occasionally the average consumer feels the need to break out of the average, and when they do, they want to use what the stars are using. They want to create a persona, another identity for themselves by identifying with the celbrity through using the product they endorse. Sounds twisted, but that's about it.
However, I think it's interesting how companies create a trap for themselves by using celebrity endorsements. Their product is only going to be hot as long as the celebrity is hot. They must have a never-ending list of celebrities to run through since I can't think of a single celebrity who will ALWAYS, no matter what be popular with the public consumer.
Celebrity endorsements work because everyone wants to be like their favorite celebrity. The best way they can think of to be like them, is by wearing what they wear, or drinking what they drink, etc. Everyone knows it won't help increase their skills, but they feel it will help them be more confident just because they are wearing and drinking what their favorite celebrity is wearing and drinking. Honestly, it's just the "cool" thing to do. They feel good about themselves because the celebrity 'feels good about themselves' on the ads they see. Whether that's true or not is not the point. It's 'cool' to be like the 'cool.'
Celebrity endorsements are all about the identity and belonging. Everyone has at some point wished they could be a part of a celebrity's life. People want to know what they are like off the court. Celebrity endorsements make this happen on some level. Maybe I'll never be as good of an athlete as Maria Sharapova, but I can use the same products she does. Will I be just like her? Probably not... but thats what advertisers are trying to sell. Thanks to celebrity endorsements, I can be just like every athlete who uses Gatorade.
I believe that celebrity endorsements are all about fitting in and wanting to belong in some sort of way. I think if someone is truly educated, they won't truly believe that they will become like that celebrity if they wear some certain product. I think what someone educated would think is that they might feel better in that certain product. So yeah I guess in a way a product endorsed by a celebrity would be something that would give some one more confidence, but nothing else.
Nice post. I'm glad to see a student thinking critically and intelligently about the connections between sports icons and consumerism.
You should look at the artwork of Hank Willis Thomas for an interesting meta-critique of the connection between branding and athletes... (online here: http://www.thesportsacademic.com/2008/11/sports-and-social-responsibility.html) or read William Rhoden's book *Forty Million Dollar Slaves.*
I definitely believe that wearing the same brand as your favorite sports hero will increase your batting average, increase your first serve percentage, or get your times to drop.
As a former collegiate swimmer here at BYU for four years and a competitor of the sport for more than 17 years, I know that I turned to every possible way to drop my best times and go even faster. If buying the same products as Michael Phelps, Janet Evans or Natalie Coughlin were going to get me to the next level, I'm so game. I especially believe it's helpful, when you reach an elite level. I competed at US Nationals four times and the NCAA Championships one time and you are always looking for ways to improve your time by .1 second. Because you reach a certain level where that is all that you can improve by.
Let me draw an analogy. Did you know the main reason why swimmers shave their legs? Really? You think it will drop incredible amounts of time. Wrong. It will only drop a small amount. But there is this feeling you have in the water, unlike any other, when you swim with shaved legs after having long hair for quite a while. You feel like a totally different person. You honestly for a moment have a glimpse of what it feels like to be a fish. The edge comes from the mentality of the shaved legs and the feeling it gives you mentally, not the shaved legs themselves.
The same goes for the new "fast, sharkskin-like," high-tech swimming suits that you see. Normally we wear just your everyday Speedos in practice and unimportant meets. And I know there is some science to these high-tech suits. But the biggest push for me is the way you feel in the water when you wear these new suits. It gives you an additional mental edge.
I think this is an interesting concept. We know that buying a product will not all of the sudden give us the talent of the athlete endorsing it, but maybe there is a little part of us that hopes we will get a piece of that talent with the product. I think we are more likely to buy a product endorsed by a favorite athlete because we have a hope that someone will associate us with that athlete.
Do I really believe that if I wear the same brand shoes as Michael Jordan I'll play just as well? Not in a million years. But, I do think that as a society, again thanks to our desire to belong, we want to wear the same thing our "idols" wear in the hopes that maybe socially, if not athletically, it might put us up on the same plane. So, yes, I believe it is about identity and belonging.
maybe some people feel a sort of "celebrity loyalty," like they do a brand loyalty. when they see a celebrity endorsing a product, buying the product is kind of supporting your favorite celebrity. even if it doesnt really benefit them..
People like to feel good. We all like to win and be champions so thats why we buy professionally endorsed products. Thats why people like to buy Air Jordan shoes. When was the last time you saw someone sporting a pair of Greg Ostertag shoes? My point exactly. We like to feel like champions. People don't want to associate themselves with mediocrity or worse. You won't see too many people wearing Detroit Lions gear this year.
I have the same tennis racquet as Andre Agassi....the same soccer cleats that Landon Donovan used....A baseball glove with a Ken Griffey Jr. Signiture (comes with the glove)...and I have the same basketball shoes that Deron Williams has. So........does it work? Yeah I guess it does! Am I a blind follower who buys whatever society tells me to? No. However, if there's a sale....or a decent price on an item that I LIKE.....and that is used by a superhero...then yeah I'll buy it. Why? Because obviously I'll be able to play as well as they do.
In a way, celebrity endorsements seem to level the playing field for consumers. It allows us to use the same racket, wear the same shoes, or swing the same clubs as the big boys. I believe consumers understand that using celebrity endorsed sports products won't suddenly propel them into the world of professional sports, but it allows them to FEEL like they are at least equal with their sports heroes when it comes to the equipment and clothes that they use. As far as function goes, "if Lebron is out there wearing Nike every night, it's gotta be a good product; a professional athlete wouldn't wear shoes that would slow him down." At least that's what we think.
However, when it comes down to celebrities featured in commercials for products not related to their field, I think it stops being an endorsement and purely acts as a way to brand the product. When Tiger is an ad with golf clubs, I feel like he's endorsing a product. He's a professional, he has the right to make claims about clubs. But when he appears in an ad for Gillette, it's different. He's no expert on facial hygiene (at least as far as I know), so his "endorsement" of the product does nothing to sway my decision to buy their razor. However, that's not to say that it doesn't influence my decision about razors. Instead, Tiger helps give the product personality and brands it in that way, but I wouldn't say it's technically an "endorsement."
Great post Rebbie! I for one, am guilty of buying the latest Under Armour apparel because I love the motivating commercials of athletes rising to their potential. I do associate star athletes with the products they endorse and when I do give in and purchase an item I'm rarely disappointed. I don't expect that with this purchase i will be able to pitch like Jenny Finch or swim like Natalie Coughlin however, I do expect good quality. And with that Nike, Under Armour, etc. have never let me down.
I think this question relates perfectly to our discussion of semiotics with Prof. Cutri. I can't help but quote from the text about reality TV and fantasy:
"In short, what reality TV has to offer is actually a broad range of fantasies, escapes from the humdrum banalities of actual life that are barely more realistic than tales of wizards, quests, and cartoon superheroes. This transformation of reality into fantasy suggests that Americans, especially younger ones, have become profoundly bored by, even dissatisfies with, their ordinary lives."
Celebrity endorsement do work, and this explains why; entertainment has bored us so much with our normal existence that we're willing to pay for the semiotic excitement that comes from wearing Nike or indulging in a G2 drink.
Celebrity endorsements are highly effective because of how our society is today. In today's world it's almost as though we revolve around the latest happenings in Hollywood and the hottest trends that they've been seen sporting. This in turn leads to endorsing certain products and increasing the profitability for the company. Like aforementioned, people want to fit in, they want to be possibly trendsetters, or maybe early adopters (if they catch on quick enough). No matter what the product is, if a person sees a celebrity whom they idolize or maybe have a genuine respect for, they will usually try and support their favorite celebrity and purchase whatever product they're seen with.
I think having a celebrity endorsement gives credibility to a product. I use a pair of basketball shoes endorsed by Gilbert Arenas, and it helps to see him actually wearing those same shoes on the court (if he could ever get healthy). Do I think these shoes will actually make me jump higher and shoot better? No way. But I still bought them.
Endorsements give common people a way to relate to something greater. Like the article said, we take these sports "heroes" and put them on another level. Buying the stuff they promote helps us to feel a part of that.
I kind of see it like a kid who looks up to their big brother or sister. They want to become like their older sibling so they act, talk and dress like them in hopes that they will become more like the person they so admire.
I think that people buy products endorsed by their favorite celebrity because they trust the celebrity. They most likely feel a strong bond to that person, admire them and look up to them. Therefore, if their celebrity's doing "it", then "it" must be cool, good, fun, etc.
Good questions Rebby. This issue is, to me, one of the main reasons advertising is so AWESOME. It's about people. The celebs and athletes represent the people. They are using products, we are using products. They are looking for success and achieving it, we are looking for it too. Nike pays tiger, tiger benefits, Nike benefits... and thanks to Capitalism and idealism and dreaming big, we all benefit, right? Yeah, I believe we do.
For three years I used to participate and compete in a sport. Three companies were good enough to help me financially so that I could be an advertisement for them. That made me SO happy. It's a wonderful world, endorsements and advertising. It's the american dream.
I don't think that people expect to play like Tiger Woods if they wear Nike, but they do feel that he's cool and if they wear Nike they may become more like him. I think that celebrity endorsements, particularly the plastering of logos over athletes, are increasingly important as TV and other traditional advertising is becoming less relevant and less effective (because of DVR, etc.). Although people won't watch the commercial break during a tennis match, they will watch it and can't ignore the human advertisement playing the game.
Celebrity endorsements are the way to go. Nike has become high class because of Tiger, good for Nike! I don't think there is anything shameful for an agency to contact a celebrity and ask. It is completely up to the superstar to accept or decline the offer. Sometimes it reflects poorly on the actor, depending on what they're advertising, but it never reflects poorly on a product when it's being used/held by a famous person. Great tactic.
Celebrity endorsements involve belonging, creating a sort of loyalty, and increasing sales in a particular area of production.
Michael Phelps for example stated that one of his main goals other than success was creating a bigger interest in his sport.
His accomplishments are impressive as he dominated his events at the olympics. As kids and teenagers look up to him they might buy a product he endorsed....to belong or relate to Michael....maybe....brand loyalty might be on it's way, both of these should increase the sales of the sponsor.
The bottom line is that celebrity endorsements may seem ridiculous and over the top but in some way they usually increase sales in the firm.
We practice sports because we want to get better. That is the goal. If we know that the world's best athlete in the sport that we practice drinks Gatorade, then why wouldn't we if it is within our financial means, imitate our idol? This is common sense, we know it wont make us the best but it may be part of the recipe to making us better, just as it is the pro's life as displayed in the commercial. This is why celebrity endorsements work, because by buying what the athlete has, we are in our minds improving our chances of becoming like that person.
Maybe a certain product can make us better, that is for us to determine. We have agency to buy it or not, that is a risk we must see if its worth taking.
I think celebrity endorsements really work because they catch your attention and make you want to buy the product more. I'm a sucker for thinking that if I use the same products that celebrities do that I will perform like they do. Of course I know that this isn't true but its always fun to use something that a celebrity is associated with.
We've placed stars and celebs and athletes on a god-like status. If they say to try this product, what's the harm in it? I trust them to win for the good ol' USA, so why not trust them when it comes to a drink? They could be wrong, but you'll only know after you try it and fall into the trap.
Celebrity endorsements obviously work, even if we assume they have no impact on us, in some way or another they do. I'm not sure I can say I bought something just because some celebrity endorsed it, but if I like the celebrity, I'm more inclined to remember the product. For example; who can forget Brittany Spears and those Pepsi commercials, Morgan Freedman's voice on those Visa Olympic Go Gold ads or Maria Sharapova and the Cannon Power Shot....the list goes on. I don't doubt some people out there buy things to emulate their favorite celebrities but whatever its impact, celebrity endorsed products work.
I think the celebrities cast to endorse products represent the qualities/characteristics associated with using said product. It becomes a source of identity and belonging, not necessarily becoming like the celebrity, but perhaps belonging to their ilk: doing what they do, wearing what they wear, liking what they like.
I buy sports equipment because they understand what an athlete is seeking. To be the best that they can be. I don't buy it because a certain athlete wears a certain brand. I buy it because the brand seeks to help me with my game and help me develop as a player. Maybe the shoes won't make me ten times greater as a player, but at least the brand is trying to make up for the lack of skill that I possess.
Celebrity endorsements are effective, because we want to be like them. We realize we won't be ourselves, so we use products and services that they use to simulate their lifestyle for ourselves. I think deep down everyone knows that Gatorade isn't going to get them into the NBA, but they can work as hard as Tiger Woods or Dwayne Wade, so they should have a drink that replenishes them the same way.
You know it is funny, my mom does aerobics every morning and when she leaves the house she always has her Smart water in her hand. I don't know anything about smart water: what it taste like or what makes it different. The only thing I know about smart water is that Jennifer Aniston is a spokesperson for them. Sad, huh?
Do you really believe that wearing the same brand as your favorite sports hero will increase your batting average or first serve percentage? My answer: Yes. It's not true, but I alway buy into it--but only when they advertise sports equipment. An athlete on a Wheaties box or Maria Sharapova with her PowerShot does nothing for me.
Is it about identity and belonging? My answer: Yes. In my mind, if I'm wearing the right brand when I'm working out or playing a game, at least it looks like I know what I'm doing. (haha..I need that at least, right?). It gives me a sense of confidence.
How much more likely are you to buy a brand because of a celebrity that endorses it? My answer: It depends on the commercial. IF the athlete is playing a sport in the commercial, regardless of the athlete, I'm more likely to want that brand. For me it's not the specific athlete, it's the image that they present on the ad. For me, I see that they're fit, I see that they're good at their given sport, and I know that I want to be that good. In my mind, although it is not true, I think that to be the best athlete I need to work hard, but I also need the best equipment. Seeing a famous athlete on a commercial endorsing a non-sporty product doesn't make me trust the product any more than I would. I wonder how it is for most people, but I think most of us realize that the athlete is just being paid and doesn't really care. If someone buys a specific product because of the athlete, it must be for some other reason. Maybe they just like that person a lot.
Also, I like what Zach said. Sports are 80% mental anyways. Wearing the name brand that a favorite celeb/athlete endorses gives you that added mental edge.
I think we're taking this a little too seriously and a bit too literal. The "why" of the commercial is to highlight the athletic achievements of these athletes. I can't do what Ali did and I respect him for his talent and hard work. He didn't just step into the ring and become the champ off pure luck. My question is what? What do you expect Gatorade to do to highlight their product? Are they supposed to talk about how similar they are to the next brand? How they don't stand out in a crowd? Good writing though, I really enjoyed this post.
Look at Powerade. Yes, it's sold in BYU vending machines, but besides that I would never buy. Gatorade is way cooler, and celebrity endorsements have made them that way. It's just how it is. Yes, I am persuaded by celebrity endorsements. I even almost bought that terrible cologne Stetson just because it's endorsed by Tom Brady. Why? Just because.
Nike is a company that always uses the best of the best athletes to advertise their products. Nike comes across as the best sports brand out there. Such athletes like Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Lebron James have all done ads for Nike.
Of course using a certain brand will not transform anybody into a superstar athlete, but incredibly celebrity endorsement prevails. Somehow it works! I think that many times these athletes or movie stars act as heroes or role models and we want to associate ourselves with them. We show our support for these high profile people by purchasing their products. It definitely plays a part in how we identify ourselves.
I don't really follow endorsements, but then I don't really follow sports as much as other people. If the celebrity applied to me and my interests, I might pay more attention.
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