[P1] truth in advertising

[Donald Keenan]

On Wednesday, December 18, 2002, at 07:29 PM, Brian Olesky wrote:

> On 12/18/02 5:43 PM, "Donald Keenan" <dkeenan2 at nycap.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> Charles mentions a campaign with famous writers, which I think would
>> work, but only if coupled with film and television celebrities and God
>> knows there are a ton of them out there who use and love macs.
>
> Never happen. The world already knows film and television people use 
> Macs.
> The trick in advertising is to tell people something they don't already
> know.
>
> Besides, there are two other widely recognized problems with celebrity
> testimonials. One, research reveals that a lot of people remember the
> celebrity more than the name of the product, and two, most people 
> assume the
> celebrity just did it for the big bucks. And believe me, the cost of
> celebrities lately is very, very big bucks.
>
> Brian
>
>

I thought advertisers used celebrity endorsements all the time, the 
point being exactly the vicarious association with the celebrity. Apple 
did this once with the Think Different poster campaign ( a staple on 
eBay) and they have peppered the Switch campaign with a few lower 
profile but significant celebs.
But maybe you're right in that Apple's matured more as a brand. I think 
Americans don't identify as strongly with writers as they do with other 
iconic figures (sports, acting) and it might stir the 
anti-intellectualism that's always under the surface in the American 
national temperament.  It could backfire, depending on the research on 
certain celebrities' images (i.e.,  Limbaugh, Hilary Clinton, Madonna).
Donald