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Mostly feels like a distraction when there’s a weak underlying idea.
This. And/or the team or client really just wants an excuse to meet the celebrity.
Once upon a time, and that clock is still ticking , the acid test for the use of celebrity was all a matter of brands organically aligning - the sponsor brand and the public brand of the celeb. Famous example: Bill Cosby, back when he wasn’t mostly known as a predator, did amazing things for Jello, because of his association with kids. When they tried him for EF Hutton the spots bombed. Reason obvi: no common sense connection.
More recently, and I think Chiat/Day had a lot to do with it via their multi-star campaigns for a scad of advertisers, we started using famous people more for their ability to attract interest than the brand halo. However, and to your point, that only goes so far — the list of “must watch” A-listers is pretty thin, and so you get more and more spots where the definition of “celebrity” is pretty stretched. To me, that’s a very high price to pay for the ignorable crap that generally comes along for the ride.
(I know lot of trade press goo-goo over Timothy Allen White for Calvin’s, but I never got quite why they picked him as eye candy since that’s not really his hallmark).
There is one exception, however, where we hire fame, not for glam, but because the person really is a great actor (Steve Martin and Martin Short for Wells Fargo, comedians for a bank that work where Cosby didn’t) or because they make the joke possible (Snoop for Solo Stove). That’s cool — ultimately it is acting, and you have to admire the effort even when it’s cringe worthy (Jason Momoa singing and dancing his heart out for T-Mobile—yikes).
But I still think the gold standard is still where all the stars —brand and persona—line up. My two-word proof: Ryan Reynolds.
Sorry to be unclear. It’s when Reynolds chooses to be the pitch dude — the sweet spot is when the product or the gag line up with his (largely Deadpool-driven) public persona. I think he gets that in ways most H’wood types do not. And, in so doing, my sense is that he’s proving that the fundamental value of celebrity isn’t a cheap trick, but something with real value.
There are absolutely points where a celebrity can really make a splash in an ad or campaign. But sometimes just having a big name is too heavily relied on and it doesn’t really mean anything in the end. I would remember something interesting or creative more than so and so was in this commercial. Especially nowadays.
Sometimes it makes sense i guess
Celebs usually = no real concept. I also find it funny how obsessed people in the biz get with celebs. Working in pharma i launched a popular diabetes drug everyone now calls a weight loss drug because celebs just used it off label, and its become the #1 brand in market in a few years with profits by far exceeding just about any consumer brand… so big flashy celebs in ads dont define profit
No, and it’s taking a lot of VO / commercial work away from people that don’t have household recognition. Lazy agencies aren’t realizing how their “concepts” can shift other entire markets trajectory. Partner used to be the voice for major brand commercials (TV and Radio), residuals netted 150-350k annually, then the shift to celebs dried up the work completely.