Paris Hilton Ads Kill Products

Advertisements featuring Paris Hilton and Britney Spears actually make people want to buy less of a product, a new survey has found.

Other than being rich and controversial celebrities, what other attribute do Paris Hilton, Donald Trump, Britney Spears and Kobe Bryant have in common? A new survey says they all also make consumers want to buy less of the products that they peddle in ads.

According to the results of a “Celebrity Influence Study” by market research firm NPD Group, while a celebrity alone won’t sell a product, the “right” celebrity may help grab the attention of some consumers who wouldn’t have otherwise noticed the product.On the other hand, choosing the “wrong” celebrity could hurt consumers’ perception of the brand or product.

For instance, the report said home improvement guru and host of ABC’s ” Extreme Makeover” Ty Pennington, Verizon pitchman James Earl Jones, Jenny Craig’s celebrity endorser Kirstie Alley, multiple Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and master chef Emeril Lagasse all positively influence consumers to buy the products that they represent.

Why? Simply because they appear to be more believable. In the case of Kirstie Alley and George Foreman, the report said these are celebrities that consumers see as being “someone I trust,” that “Kirstie Alley is working hard to lose weight, and that George Foreman knows about healthy grilling.”

At the same time, other celebrity endorsers, like Paris Hilton and Donald Trump can hurt a product’s image because consumers don’t believe these celebrities actually use or believe in the products they pitching, the report said.

Using celebrities is a “double-edge sword,” NPD’s chief industry analyst Marshal Cohen said in the report, since they can cut through the cutter of competition but they can also cut the brand power in half. “If the wrong celebrity is used, or the celebrity does something to disenchant the public, then their association with a brand can backfire,” Cohen said. “Marketers need to choose wisely since today’s hot celebrity can become tomorrow’s worst marketing nightmare.”

Although the idea that George Foreman actually has expertise in healthy grilling amuses me, the results make sense. People know that Kirstie Allie is intermittently a fat ass, so they believe that she’s trying to lose weight.

Mostly, though, I think it’s a likeability issue. Shaquille Oneal is a big, lovable lug. Kobi Bryant is, at best, a lying adulterer. And, while people find Donald Trump and Paris Hilton fascinating for whatever reason, most people think of them as shallow buffoons.

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Paris Hilton Ads Kill Products

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