Boyle could add talent to the right product

Dom — Wed, 06 May 2009 16:11:57 +0000

At the start of the year my colleague, Carl Pugh, wrote about how best to tackle a year in which the word ‘recession’ would feature heavily. Five months in and the news media seems confused as to whether it should be reporting we will emerge in 2010 or whether we’ll sink under the weight of the trillion pound debt. I’ll leave the future to the kids and focus instead on another aspect of the article – celebrity advertising. Why? Well because I just read a story about Susan Boyle.

I’m usually dead against celebrity advertising. Much of it smacks of an easy option which demands little from the creatives involved. At its worst it is patronising or preaching, by showing us super rich dilettantes espousing the benefits of cheap food. Or it can be just plain confusing as is the case of Monsieur Cantona in Renault’s ad. But with Susan Boyle, the news that she is being sought after to endorse everything from FMCG to more domestic goods is intriguing. I can see her bringing an approachability, an anti-celebrity air and a credibility to any product. Provided, that is, if she isn’t exploited in the process. A cynical ad could well backfire, leavingus with yet another celebrity on the bonfire of public opinion.

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Boyle could add talent to the right product