When Celebrity Endorsements Go Wrong

July 09, 2019

Celebrities are like catnip to companies looking to get their product out to a wideaudience, so it’s no surprise that we see so many of our favorite celebs advertising awide range of products. When it’s done well, a celebrity endorsement can bring inincredible revenues for a company, but when it goes wrong it does so spectacularly.A misjudged advertising campaign can not only ruin the reputation of the company butalso the celebrity. To the average person these cocked-up campaigns are much moreentertaining, so let’s take a look at some of the worst recent celebrity endorsements.

Rio Ferdinand and the Free Spins

In 2015 former England and Manchester United soccer defender Rio Ferdinand took toTwitter to tell his 6 million followers about an online casino. At the height of his careerFerdinand was pulling in a weekly salary of £200,000 and was soon branded a ‘moneygrabber’ for his casino endorsement.The money that Ferdinand received from the endorsement has never been revealed,but it is thought that it would be a fraction of his former weekly salary. Ferdinand wasslammed for being ‘irresponsible’ as a large percentage of his sizable follower basewere under-18s.

Since this debacle, casinos and celebrity endorsements have been few and farbetween – a comprehensive list featuring the latest casino bonuses is enough to attractvisitors, meaning celebrities don’t have to risk their reputation.Unfortunately, it wasn’t the last time that Ferdinand would be in the news for an ill-judged commercial decision. Just last year he publicly backed Newcastle United’snotoriously terrible chairman Mike Ashley.It was later revealed that Ashley – who owns the Sports Direct chain – had just agreedto stock Ferdinand’s latest leisurewear range.

Rio Ferdinand suggests that Newcastle fans should thank Mike Ashley, the manthat took the club from the brink of the Champions League to the Championship, twice.

Pepsi Lives Matter

In 2017, the Black Lives Matter campaign was in full swing in America and across theworld in response to police brutality against African-Americans. Pepsi were keen tojump on the bandwagon and show the world just how ‘woke’ they were when theyteamed up with Kendall Jenner to make this incredibly insensitive advert.

The take home from this commercial campaign was that Kendall Jenner could solvecenturies of discord between communities by prancing over to a protest and handingout Pepsi. Barely 6 months before the advert was released, a peaceful protester inBaton Rouge was brutally rushed by police officers.

Unsurprisingly Kendall Jenner and Pepsi were widely criticized for this advertisingcampaign. They were rightly accused of trivialising a serious issue and trying to takeadvantage of it for their own gain.

Kendall Jenner and Pepsi took a bashing online after this advert was released.

Harry Redknapp’s Baking Efforts

In 2018 former soccer manager Harry Redknapp stole the British public’s heart whenhe was crowned King of the Jungle in reality TV show I’m a celebrity get me out ofhere! Throughout the show Redknapp repeatedly mentioned his love for Jam RolyPoly’s whenever he was hungry (which was all the time).

Six months after his appearance on the show Redknapp featured in an advert for websitebuilding company GoDaddy. In the ad the King of the Jungle claimed that Go Daddyhad helped him set up his very own Jam Roly Poly business…

It didn’t really make a sense. A soccer manager, talking about Jam Roly Poly’s toadvertise a website building company, it was just weird. But it isn’t the first time thatHarry Redknapp has done something foolish for a couple of quid, like opening a bankaccount for his dog in Monaco…

Jackie Chan’s Budget Clothes

Jackie Chan is one of the world’s most famous actors after displaying his Kung Fuskills in a number of blockbuster films. A man with his status and reputation would surely have been a good choice for a ‘manly, full-throttle’ product, not a defunct Britishbargain store.

If you’re unfamiliar with Woolworths, it was once a staple of the British high-street bestknown for selling cheap sweets, discounted VHS (later DVDs) and rubbish clothes. Inthis bizarre endorsement Jackie Chan and a group of freakishly scary puppets runaround Woolworths looking for clothes to buy for an upcoming party.

At no point in Woolworths history in Britain was it ever a ‘go-to’ place for fashion andclothes. In fact, telling someone that you purchased clothes from the bargain storewould be akin to social suicide.

That didn’t seem to bother Jackie Chan though, who was obviously unaware of thestrange reputation that Woolworths had in the UK. Unfortunately the advertisingcampaign wasn’t a major success for the British chain as it ceased trading just over adecade after this bizarre advert.

If you’re spending your marketing budget on this, what do you expect?

Jackie Chan loves appearing in blockbuster action movies and shopping at Woolworths apparently.

Brought to you by John Spender