Companies Ditch Celebrity Endorsements

From Michael Jordan to Shakira, Tiger Woods to Catherine Zeta-Jones - companies have always paid big bucks for a famous face to be associated with their products.

That's about to change.

Many companies are shying away from big names and dumping celebrity endorsements altogether. Powerful execs say their brand is overshadowed by the likes of high-profile celebs.

Take Pepsi, for example. The soft drink maker canned such celebrities as Beyoncé Knowles and Britney Spears.

Pepsi officials said the celebrities were too big and the Pepsi brand didn't get the promotion out of the ad campaign that the stars were getting. Instead, Pepsi's putting the spotlight on its product and replacing the "Joy of Pepsi" campaign with the endorsement-free "Pepsi. It's the Cola." campaign.

Same case for Chrysler, which dumped Celine Dion from its new ad campaign. Insiders at Chrysler say the commercials featuring Dion driving a Pacifica produced great sales...for the singer, not the car.

Chrysler's ad agency, BBDO, advised against the use of Celine Dion's endorsement from the beginning. After signing a three year, $14 million dollar deal, Dion's face is gone and Chrysler's looking to shift the focus back on the company's image.

Sometimes companies are quick to drop celebrity endorsers when the celebrity gets caught in a sticky situation. Kobe Bryant's endorsement deals are up in the air while Michael Jackson's latest legal issues will make it practically impossible for him to gain sponsors for his tours and endorsements as well.

Companies have to make quick decisions when one of their endorsers comes under fire or their own image could be tarnished. Guilty by association in a consumer's eyes describes it best.

Magic Johnson lost his endorsement deals when he announced in 1991 that he's HIV-positive. It wasn't until July 2003 that he landed his first endorsement deal since the announcement.

Sears and Federal Express yanked their sponsorships of Bill Maher's Politically Incorrect after Maher called Americans "cowards" for "lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away," post September 11.

While you'll never hear of all companies dumping their celebrity endorsers, some are finding out multi-million dollar contracts with celebrities are not a surefire way to move products ahead of their competitors.