Perils of celebrity endorsement

Entrepreneurs can learn from the colossal bad judgement call made by actress Kerry Armstrong.

Armstrong featured in ads last year for Coca-Cola, and told us all with great conviction – as you would expect given she is a great actor – that the soft drink was “kiddy safe”.

“Now that I’ve found out what’s myth and what isn’t, it’s good to know that our family can continue to enjoy one of our favourite drinks,” Armstrong says sincerely in the ads.

“My boys now call me Mum, the Myth Buster!”

What rot. It was an example of celebrity endorsement that completely backfired. Once the ads appeared, the talk around the ad was amazement that an actor of her calibre would endorse a product like that. Either she really thought Coke was good for you in which case her endorsement lacked credibility because, and of course, coke is bad for kids. Or she was telling lies because again, coke is bad for kids. In either case, the conversation that goes back and forth is certainly not about things that are going to sell more Coke.  

Yesterday we learn that Coca-Cola has been ordered to publish corrective advertisements

“Coke’s messages were totally unacceptable, creating an impression which is likely to mislead that Coca-Cola cannot contribute to weight gain, obesity and tooth decay,” the ACCC’s chairman, Graeme Samuel, said.

“[The ads] also had the potential to mislead parents about the potential consequences of consuming Coca-Cola.”

Coca-Cola South Pacific has now given the ACCC court-enforceable undertakings to publish corrective advertisements in major newspapers as well as on the company’s own website.

But now we are further reminded that coke is bad for you. In the ads, the correct levels of caffeine for Coca-Cola, Diet Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero must be included because of the false claims in the original campaign that the soft drink contained the same amount of caffeine as tea brewed from leaves or teabags.

So the lesson for entrepreneurs when you use celebrity endorsement, which can be very effective, is make sure the message fits the celebrity, and fits the product.