Celebrities sell. At least, that would seem to be the case. But a recent study showed that having a celebrity endorse your brand doesn’t necessarily add up to more sales.
In fact, it can even hurt them. For instance, what happens when the celebrity you’ve paid to promote your product is found naked in a hotel room with a scared hooker locked in the bathroom? Or, worse, when the celebrity is a straight-up murderer …
#1. O.J. Simpson and Rental Cars
Before he was a murderer who went free convicted felon, O.J. Simpson was a Hall-of-Fame football player who portrayed Officer Nordberg in The Naked Gun trilogy — and Hertz rental car company wanted to capitalize on his sterling reputation. So Simpson became the face of their brand, doing tons of commercials during the 1970s and ‘80s. In fact, Simpson fit Hertz’s brand like a glove until 1992, when reports of The Juice’s domestic abuse hit the media. Hertz severed its relationship with Simpson, and O.J. severed … well, you know the rest of that story.
