4) May – Dior pulls Sharon Stone ads in China for comments made at Cannes

The news:

Apparently, “karma” is the reason for the massive, devastating earthquakes in China. According to Sharon Stone what goes around comes around and the natural disaster is a karmic result of China’s ill treatment of its Tibetan neighbours. Stone made the comments to a television reporter at the Cannes Film Festival. Needless to say her comments caused outrage in China and further abroad, and Dior subsequently pulled all its print ads in the region. No doubt China is too vast a potential market for the luxury goods industry to offend. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ru1gfM5gCn0

Behind the news:

Celebrity endorsement can have a powerful impact on a brand – both positive and negative. They can help a brand cut through the clutter and capture the attention of the consumer. A well chosen celeb can be persuasive for the target market – acting as a reflection of themselves or what they aspire to be. However, the use of celebrity carries with it some inherent risks. As we see here, a change in the popularity or image of a celebrity can have an adverse impact on a brand (other issues are loss of credibility due to over-endorsing, or simply falling out of the spotlight). It is not always easy to predict how a celebrity will act in the future, but it is important to analyse how much of a liability someone may be prior to using them, how important and visible they will be in a campaign overall, and how important a particular market is to the business – all of which will increase or decrease the overall level of risk.

© Textappeal 2009