Celebrities endorsing products

It was not a good thing Scarlett Johannson did. She was an ambassador for Oxfam. They were horrified to discover that she was endorsing SodaStream in advertisements in the USA - which has a manufacturing plant in illegal settlement on West Bank (i.e. land that has been illegally taken from Palestinians). Kind of highlights the question - why does one of the most successful actresses in the world seek this kind of work in advertising? Just how many tens of millions does a celebrity need?

'Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet' with Gregor Fisher and the Air on a G-string. Remember the photo-booth and car through the barn-door?

I saw Patsy Kensit being interviewed recently on a programme looking at actors when they were young. Patsy Kensit did the frozen peas advert when she was a little girl. She said that as a child she hated peas and always spat them out after every take. I suspect celebrity endorsements are equally unreliable.

Well the Walkers crisps advert obviously worked tegan
Just mention Gary Lineker and you have a Pavlovian response! My mouths watering and I don't even like Crisps!

I thought that M&S advert was awful [the poster one, that is]. Emma Thompson looked awful. Have to admit to liking the Santander adverts although I would never use Santander . Gary Lineker is actually a complete grump, from what I've heard, but I reckon he's still admired for his footballing skills..I know it was a few years ago I was there but he still has an honorary seat at Nou Camp. Darn it; really fancy a packet of bloomin' crisps now....

I think there was more to it than just modelling jess, or why bother to have the leading ladies, when you could have models who perhaps might have looked more attractive and made the clothes look a bit nicer too.
I think the thought process of the advertisers was that customers would think that the leading ladies would actually wear those clothes, ie that they were endorsing them, and that the customers would want to emulate the leading ladies' style.
Wrong on both counts!
I agree goldengirl, anything associated with a celeb puts me right off.
I had a dress from Coast a few years ago that I really liked. Then I saw a picture in the paper of Jeremy Clarkson's wife wearing it

Weren't the leading ladies just in photos aka modelling jane.?
The santander advertising agency is dire isn't it.

The trouble is that some people will be swayed by 'celebrity' endorsements. The fact that there are so many of them seems to indicate that this form of advertising works. I'm afraid I tend to be perverse and avoid anything that has been 'celebrity' endorsed - if I can remember what it is they've endorsed!

Jess you have clearly forgotten M&S's recent 'Leading Ladies' campaign
I think in that case, the boundaries between advertisement and endorsement have blurred, since we are clearly supposed to draw the conclusion that Emma Thompson et al would actually wear the dreadful garments, and that's where the campaign failed.
I think endorsement usually isn't the same as advertising on the telly or in the print media. It usually means the person using or wearing the product while they're doing whatever it is they're famous for, eg Andy Murray wearing Nike tennis shoes or whatever.
The Jessica Ennis/Santander thing really annoys me. Why should I believe that just because she's a brilliant athlete, she knows enough about financial products to recommend them?
If a company respected the intelligence of its market, it should have the confidence to sell itself to its customers on its merits, rather than thinking they will be swayed by the opinion of someone famous for being famous.

Was glad to see that Charlie is wearing a bra in the ad, but what a silly one it is. (The ad, not the bra!)

Parkie top of our list of irritations. Says a lot for the Gloria Hunniford advert if we (us too) can't remember What she was plugging.

Also Charlie (no bra) is currently doing an advert for some plant stuff! More women than you thought maybe, but still lots more men!

Jess I did mention Carole Vordermann at the top of the thread, and I've just remembered Gloria Hunniford, but I can't think what she was advertising.

Who the woman in the magazine ad endorsing Holiday Property Bonds? I think it's Sue Barker, but could be wrong.

However it does count as an endorsement, as she is "saying" that she has been a HPB owner for x number of years etc.

Just googled SJ. No, I wouldn't recognise her anywhere. I might realise she was famous but I'd just be thinking "Nameless Sleb. Shrug" and moving on. I'd only pay attention if she (or any other Sleb) did something interesting. They rarely do.

Good for Scarlett Johannsen if she did. I'm not sure I'd recognise Scarlett Johannsen anywhere anyhow.

I agree with pogs – ruddy adverts is all they are.

Yes he was an ace footballer, but it was an awful long time ago now. Young people probably think he has always worked for the BBC.
Agree re Parkinson on day time TV. I have just thought of another female endorser - Carol Vordemann!!!!
The Santander ads crack me up. Jensen Button and that irish golfer were taken on at the same time as Jessica (I note 2 men to one female) in 2012. The two chaps are more wooden than an oak carving and the ads were not great either. The latest one just has Jess in it running up a hill. But she's pregnant at the moment so the advertising agency will be scratching their heads.
Didn't Scarlett Johannsen get into trouble recently for endorsing something politically sensitive ?

I think there is a sense of rationality required here.

If you were offered say £20.000 to 'do an advert' which let's face it is what it is, a ruddy advert, would you turn the money down if offered the job?

Are we really saying that an advert makes you rush out and buy the product. I think adverts, whilst giving out the obvious subliminal message, are what they are, a bloody nuisance that get in the way of a programme. As for bringing race or sexuality into the mix I am quite simply lost because there is always an argument to be had in the opposite direction.

I find it hard to believe that a celebrity endorsement will make people buy a particular product, but then I am not into celebrities.

*JessM *Don't forget our Gary was an Ace footballer as well. He didn't end up like David Beckham as a fashion icon or any of the notorious heavy drinking, wife beating ones either. (I just think he is a nice guy. )

I find the Michael Parkinson ad enthusing about cheap life insurance for the over-fifties particularly patronising. He certainly doesn't need it!

Being paid a huge amount of money to appear in the advertisements bags.
Like Gary Lineakeerhoweverhespellsit
Already paid a huge amount of money by BBC to present footie programmes. Also for many years paid, I am guessing, even more money to promote junk food (Walker's crisps) .

What is the exact meaning of 'endorse' in this context? Does it mean they say the product is fab and that they use it? And if that's what they say, are they telling the truth or just 'acting' because they are getting paid to say certain things?

I mean, products advertised in magazines!

Quite a few endorse magazine adverts, though - Annette Crosbie, Cheryl Baker, Esther Rantzen...

Are you sure they are endorsements, jess, or just advertisements? I've always thought that they just pay you to put your picture and words you've said from a script next to their product, not necessarily to actually use the product yourself. Appearing in advertisements is just a kind of acting.

A principled 'actor' might not want their name associated with products they strongly disapproved of, but essentially it's no different from acting a baddy in a Shakespeare play.