Chieftains: Who is the Best Celebrity Pitchman (or Woman) and Why?
QUESTION: WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS THE BEST-EVER CELEBRITY PITCHMAN (OR WOMAN), AND WHY?
MATT JONES, VICE PRESIDENT, CREATIVE STRATEGY, JACK MORTON WORLDWIDE
Two people immediately come to mind. Tiger Woods and Grace Kelly. Why them? Because, unlike 95% of the celebrity/brand partnership landscape (which is dominated by greedy stars and desperate brands), Woods/Nike and Kelly/Hermes are examples of genuinely consumer-relevant partnerships. Grace Kelly used her Hermes scarf as a sling when she broke her arm. She was so influential on Hermes that they named the Kelly bag after her. Her relationship with Hermes was deep and deeply relevant, with her style choices influencing a generation of women. Same with Tiger Woods and Nike. He has collaborated on product development, played better golf than anyone in history, and drawn a direct correlation for consumers between the golf equipment they choose and the success they enjoy. Woods/Nike and Kelly/Hermes, two examples of hugely successful partnerships — no matter how they may have lived their lives.
RICHARD CASSEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF ANALYTICS, AIR MARKETING
Orville Redenbacher would be my choice! Because, obviously he was the brand. He also embodied the core tenants of the brand — wholesome, family togetherness. A lot of people don’t realize that when Hunt Wesson bought the brand, one of the deals was that Redenbacher remained the pitchman, which he did for more than 30 years. And he was so good, in fact, that the agency for Orville Redenbacher brought him back from the dead in 2007!
KIRK CHEYFITZ, CEO, STORY WORLDWIDE
Only half jokingly, I’ll state the obvious: Celebrity spokespeople are dangerous. They get married and then have affairs with multiple partners. Or hit on their employees or get arrested for drunk driving. Or drugs. In extreme cases, they do all the above. Then there’s the disclosure stuff the FTC requires about paying them. So I recommend dead celebrities. Their mistakes are largely behind them. The paparazzi don’t pursue them. Disclosure isn’t a problem. In the effusively self-promotional words of Mark Roesler, leading agent for dead celebs, “legends never die.” And modern CGI technology can bring anyone back to life. Given the story-based, journalistic bent of my agency, my favorite all-purpose celebrity spokesperson would be Walter Cronkite, who died last year at 92. Trusted, fatherly and sporting the right mix of approachability and gravity, he successfully pitched a certain view of America every night on “CBS News” for a generation. He’s also the right guy for the demands of social media. If “Uncle Walter” can’t help make a brand trusted, no one can. The late director Sidney Lumet, who worked with Cronkite in the 1950s, described him as “somebody with the most American, homespun, warm ease about him.” Let’s hope his estate makes him available.
SUE STRIBLING, MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS, COCA-COLA U.S.A.
I’m biased, but I’d say Mean Joe Greene. We just celebrated the 30th anniversary of his “Hey, kid” ad [for Coke] last November, and we had a big event in Pittsburgh during football season where we brought in Joe and Tom Okon, the kid from the commercial, who’s now 40 and has four kids. For nine years CBS has done a show before the Super Bowl about the game’s greatest commercials and conducted an online poll about the greatest Super Bowl ad of all time. Last year they finally had to retire “Mean Joe Greene and the Kid” because it kept winning — even though it didn’t actually debut during the Super Bowl, but during the baseball playoffs. But people love that ad, and they love that relationship. Joe as a pitchman for Coke was exactly what the brand was all about, and it’s an iconic commercial.
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