Celebrity endorsements mired again

I know this might seem an obvious question, but if you were asked to front a media campaign and became the very public ‘face’ for a commercial product or service, wouldn’t you want to satisfy yourself that you were happy to be associated with it before saying ‘yes’?

Mike King is the latest in a line of celebrities who appear to have been happy to be paid handsomely for endorsing a product and then pleaded ignorance or victimisation when whatever it is they’ve been endorsing turned out to be less than wholesome or credible.

NZ Pork is reeling. I’d hazard a guess King’s very public about-face after seven years of promoting New Zealand Pork absolutely broadsided them.

Did King have a moral and ethical responsibility to the Board? Without question – yes.

Irrespective of his (apparently new) personal views are regarding commercial farming, by endorsing the product, and accepting payment, King had a moral duty to NZ Pork.

As a former vegetarian, and Life member of the SPCA, I personally welcome the debate and possible law changes King’s actions have triggered. However, he’s on very thin ice in terms of professional integrity.

Brian Rudman’s column in the New Zealand Herald was spot on in noting:

“ … to hear King plead forgiveness on the grounds he didn’t know stretched the bounds of credulity. It was like listening to a World War II concentration camp guard claiming afterwards he thought he’d been working at a holiday camp.”

The article also notes:

“Mike King has not told us …whether he has given back all the filthy luchre he earned as poster boy for the New Zealand Pork Board.”

I’m sure it’s very flattering to be invited to front a campaign of this nature – the benefits work both ways, keeping both the endorser and the product in the public eye. It’s certainly very lucrative.

However, if one party in the arrangement ‘burns’ – for whatever reason – the other is directly affected. Having an endorser turn the tables and become an antagonist is rare, but as demonstrated in the King case, entirely possible, and the effects can be extremely damaging for both parties.

Tread with care around celebrity or other endorsements, and do your due diligence. Otherwise, they may very well come back and bite you where you’d much rather they didn’t.