5 Ill-Fated Celebrity Brand Partnerships
The celebrity brand partnership is a delicate relationship. Artists and corporations are kind of famously at odds with each other, so working together can be fraught with landmines, even if they need the publicity/money. Some collaborations, however, are just doomed from the start. Like…
Hertz Found Out O.J. Simpson Was Even Better at Running
Back in the ‘70s, when Hertz Rent A Car hired O.J. Simpson as their celebrity spokesman, they had no reason to believe it was a bad move. All anybody knew about him was that he was super good at football, and commercials for Hertz featuring Simpson dashing through an airport, evading security measures along the way, were a smashing success. Then Simpson proved just how good he was at running when he engaged police in one of history’s most famous chases, and running through an airport for Hertz was no longer a good look.
Nike Quickly Regretted Calling Oscar Pistorius ‘The Bullet in the Chamber’
Likewise, the 2011 partnership between Nike and Oscar Pistorius, the first double-amputee to become an Olympic sprinter, seemed like the most logical thing in the world. Then, two years later, Pistorius was convicted of shooting and killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. That was bad enough, but the Nike campaign in question featured images of Pistorius accompanied by the words, “I am the bullet in the chamber.” They’re probably considering their slogans more carefully these days.
FRS Energy Claimed to be Lance Armstrong’s ‘Secret Weapon’
For years, Lance Armstrong appeared in advertisements for FRS Energy, claiming their drinks and powders were the “secret weapon” of his athletic success. As a result, the value of the company — in which Armstrong was a part owner — quintupled. Then he was forced to reveal that his “secret weapon” was actually much more intense performance-enhancing drugs. FRS was even sued by consumers for false advertising, but the brand’s claims were classified as “puffery,” which is legal for “just kind of bullshit.”
Michelob Hired Eric Clapton. Eric Clapton!
There’s no way most of these brands could have seen what was coming, but when Michelob decided to make beer (?) cool again (??) in 1987, they lined up a string of rock stars to appear in commercials, including Eric Clapton. You know, the Eric Clapton who has very publicly struggled with addiction for, oh, his entire career. The commercials were actually pretty successful, but the celebration was short-lived, as Clapton immediately entered rehab. He later described “sitting in a room full of recovering alcoholics” when his Michelob commercial appeared on TV and they asked him in disbelief, “Is that you?”
Ween and Pizza Hut Wasted Each Other’s Time
In a rare case of celebrity endorsements gone bad, Ween actually did something that was simply too rad for Pizza Hut. The band was hired in 2002 to write a single for the company’s stuffed crust pizza, to be called “Where’d the Cheese Go?” but after their first six attempts were rejected, they turned in a version so profane that Pizza Hut was forced to fire them. They got the last laugh, though: “Where’d the Motherf---ing Cheese Go At?” became a huge fan favorite.
They somehow sold… in?
