Are celebrity endorsements worth it?

Published May 20, 2014 at 10:24 am

It might seem like an ordinary practice to seek out a celebrity spokesperson or model to help in an ad campaign, especially one that fits the product or service being advertised. But AdWeek recently reported on the statistics released by Unruly Media, who assessed all of the different ads from this year’s Super Bowl and looked at how much they were shared.

As the source notes, most of the ads that were among the top twelve most-shared did not contain celebrities, and none of the ones that did received more than 1 million shares. The only commercial that did manage to reach those kinds of numbers was the Budweiser “Puppy Love” spot, which has more than 50 million views on YouTube.

The short is notable for the way it has managed to grab the viewer’s attention through production value, music, and cute animals, as opposed to the overt comedy and celebrity cameos that have become Super Bowl ad traditions.

Interestingly enough, it seems that mocking the ridiculousness of your own commercial’s use of a celebrity might be a good viral tactic as well. Fast Company recently pointed out the satirical work of YouTuber Steve Rosenthal, who re-edited an ad for headphones featuring Sean Jay to underline how nonsensical so many of celebrity endorsements actually are.

And Steven Colbert’s Wonderful Pistachios commercial, also from this year’s Super Bowl, took a similarly ironic look at the uselessness of having egotistical celebrities involved with product advertising.

In the end, companies need to pick and choose the elements that will get them the most attention and the best business, and that might mean forgoing the traditional route of endorsement for something that feels more organic—or at least features puppies.