IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: Celebrities

  • Are you ready for some football? Tom Brady is!

    With the NFL’s first regular season game on Thursday, sports fan across the nation anticipate returning to their fantasy football leagues, their favorite team’s bar, or even just their living room couches every Sunday to watch professional football. The NFL will dominate the American sports and entertainment industry for the next seven months, especially the TV ratings, and will continue to rake in a massive financial profit. As the NFL and its fans prepare for the new season, they continue to deal with incidents from last season and question if the commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell, will be able to retain his position much longer.

    The NFL has been involved with a plethora of negative PR instances in recent years and the organization does not always handle these situations appropriately, which only leads to backlash from the various publics and football community. Commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to suspend New England Patriot’s quarterback, Tom Brady, for four games at the start of this season was overturned last Thursday by Judge Richard Berman. Tom Brady’s suspension was over the highly publicized “Deflategate” scandal, concerning his potential involvement in the incident that occurred before the Patriots win over the Seahawks earlier this year in Super Bowl XLIX. After the federal judge’s decision to overturn the suspension, the NFL is once again in a terrible position as the season is about to get under way and as reporter Bob Kravitz put it, “leaves the NFL with ‘egg on their face’”.

    It is clear that Commissioner Goodell picked the wrong fight with NFL poster-boy, four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and there are few actions the current commissioner can take to rebuild his image. He has already lost the trust of players, has a dreadful win-loss record in court, has displayed awful values of the NFL, and lost his credibility. For example, Ray Rice was initially only suspended two games for punching a woman, a charge much more serious than a couple footballs being slightly deflated. However, the NFL ultimately suspended him indefinitely, which was eventually overturned in court through an appeal by Rice.

    In addition to Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy, CJ Spillman, Ray McDonald, and even Jameis Winston are no longer just incidents dealing with violence or domestic abuse. These negative occurrences are all actively shaping the NFL community and the image that the NFL portrays. It tends to show that the NFL does not maintain outstanding values and they prioritize morals a bit differently from the American public. All of the players previously mentioned are all still eligible to play in the NFL at this current moment, yet Tom Brady was nearly suspended for four games for his knowledge of footballs being deflated, making one question the values of the NFL even more intently.

    Following the Ray Rice incident last year, polls showed that the American public was already calling for his resignation. If Goodell is to maintain his role as commissioner and face of the organization for the foreseeable future, he needs to try to recreate his image since it is viewed so negatively. He needs to speak openly about the instance, consider relinquishing his disciplinary rule, hold a press conference, or use the NFL’s PR department to the best of their ability. As the rest of American society prepares for what is the highly coveted and entertaining NFL season, the NFL organization will attempt to wipe some of the ‘egg off their face’ that the Deflategate deliberation left on.

    – Griffin Weidele, Austin Moody, Luci Keefer, Allen Wooten, Scott Uraro

  • New Rules For Celebrities Who Advertise On Twitter

    Not all tweets are created equal: the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has decided to impose new regulations for celebrities who advertise on Twitter. The agency involved in the regulation of business activities has updated the rules on consumer protection for online business, publishing a specific document that explains how the VIPs should be tweeting their promotional messages.

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    When a celebrity mentions a product or a service in social media, the sales can often skyrocket. But is the celebrity really a fan of what is being advertised or is he/she simply being paid to say something nice? After an incident when celebrity Lauren Bacall showed up on “The Today Show” promoting a drug without disclosing she was being paid, the Federal Trade Commission warned celebrities, as well as the marketers that use them, about not disclosing paid endorsements. Afterward, the FTC took steps to ensure social media bloggers disclose when they are being compensated for their comments.

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    To make it as clear as possible, the FTC has invented a fictional celebrity, named Juli Starz. The fake star promotes a pill “Fat-away” that would help her lose 30 pounds in six weeks. The message also contains a direct link to the product’s website for those who may be interested. According to the FTC, this is an example of how one should not tweet promotionally. Juli in fact has made two mistakes: she did not specify that it was an ad, and secondly, the ad also lacked more precise information on the possibility that others could expect to obtain an identical result.

    In a second example, an identical tweet is presented, which contains however the hashtag #spon abbreviation of “sponsored.” In this case Juli still fails to comply with the FTC guidelines. The hashtag #spon, in fact, is still too ambiguous for many potential followers of the diva. It would be much better if the tweet contained the hashtag “ad” ie “advertisement.”

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    Twitter has hundreds of millions of users, and it is interesting to think about the reach and impact of these free forms of advertising and online promotions. Another thing that is important to emphasize on is the ethicality of these advertisements. In fact, celebrities until now have been free to advertise on social media without really having to disclose whether they are being paid for that endorsement. I think it is important that followers and fans not be deceived and know when it is not a personal opinion, in order for them to make an informed choice about whether they also support the brand or product.

    The stars, in either case, are now warned. If you want to advertise, you must comply with the rules. “The same consumer protections laws that apply to commercial activities in other media apply online, including activities in the mobile marketplace,” the FTC said in its guidance. “Required disclosures must be clear and conspicuous.”

    – Sasha De Vecchi

  • The Contribution of Celebrities in the Fight Against Breast Cancer

    An advantage to the promotion of breast cancer-awareness for celebrities can be their ongoing fame and popularity. Their voices are being heard, and can get the point across to both women and men that this is an urgent issue and should be taken very seriously. Various celebrities have been diagnosed with breast cancer and are using their popularity, courage, and personal experience with the fight to serve as a source of inspiration to other women and men. It sounds strange to put men in this category; but yes, men can also be diagnosed with breast cancer.

    An article titled “Celebrity Breast Cancer Fighters”, located on the knowcancer.com website, releases that Cynthia Nixon, popularly referred to as “Miranda” from the show “Sex and the City”, was “diagnosed with breast cancer during a routine mammogram in 2006. She initially battled it without a public announcement of her diagnosis or treatment in fear of related stigma, but in 2008 she announced it to the world in an interview with Good Morning America.” Nixon portrayed much bravery and thoughtfulness throughout her interview as she explained with much understanding why some women fear yearly mammograms. Nixon addressed this fear and also offered positive, yet convincing advice to all who were listening.
    Celebrity status has been a great way of reaching a wide-ranged audience, proving that numerous celebrities’ lives have been unavoidably interrupted by breast cancer that they are not alone in this fight. Professional athletes and teams are also jumping on the awareness support-train. The NFL, its club teams, and all of the professional players in the association are wearing pink with pride in order to support the fight against breast cancer. According to the official nfl.com/pink website, the NFL’s “A Crucial Catch” campaign, in partnership with the American Cancer Society, is “focused on the importance of annual screenings, especially for women who are 40 and older. Throughout October, NFL games will feature players, coaches and referees wearing pink game apparel, on-field pink ribbon stencils, special game balls and pink coins – all to help raise awareness for this important campaign.” These organizations are aware that breast cancer can happen to anyone and having this kind of support could mean the world to those diagnosed.  An auction will later be held by the NFL with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society’s CHANGE program. All the pink apparel worn by the coaches and players will be auctioned off, along with special pink game footballs.

    According to www.cancer.gov, breast cancer is the most prevalent non-skin cancer among women with 203,000 new cases diagnosed along with over 40,000 deaths in 2007 alone.  Using celebrities as spokespeople for the cause can be a great way to spread awareness and get more people involved.  Ultimately, this can get more money raised for research, treatment, and cures.  As previously stated, getting celebrities to speak out about breast cancer not only helps with current cases but helps in the detection process as well, for it promotes mammograms and routine check-ups.  It is great to see various celebrities and sports organizations come together to fight a cancer that is so detrimental to hundreds of thousands of Americans.

    –Sasha De Vecchi, Lindsay Gallagher, Jay Reilly, Cary Welborn

  • Challenge: Build Your #brand In 140 Characters

    Social media is a growing evolutionary electronic forum around the world.  Some argue that Twitter and other social media sites are becoming the journalism of the 21st century. There are numerous social media outlets which allow their users to instantly connect with thousands of online communities and share a limitless amount of information.  From celebrity Tweets to Facebook events, wall posts to Pinterest pins, people are staying connected in a variety of forms on the Internet.  Twitter, founded in 2006, has become one of the leading social media outlets allowing users to stay up to date with current events. From international businesses to famous celebrities, Twitter allows its users to feel connected to whomever they choose to follow.  Celebrities like @Kim_Kardashian, @Heidi_Klum, @Ryan_Seacrest, and @Snooki all use Twitter to enhance their #brand and attract followers.

    The use of social media sites is becoming one of the most dependable and fastest ways to sell and promote products. In just a few clicks marketers can have access to any target audience they desire. Twitter is an efficient way to connect people to ideas and enhance their #brand awareness. It also allows marketers to engage their audience in a manner where the consumers actually want to receive information. Twitter can also be used as a research method to learn what their target audiences are tweeting about and incorporate those ideas into their marketing strategies. Twitter can be used to build and enhance a personal #brand by making connections with their target audience and answering their questions and comments directly.

    With each tweet, celebrities are promoting and advertising themselves in 140 characters or less. Some celebrities control their own accounts while others are maintained by their PR agent. Using Twitter for publicity increases their popularity while establishing their #brand.  It also allows celebrities to establish more of a personal connection to their fans. Sometimes celebrities will re-tweet and reply to comments, questions or concerns that their fans send.  This gives them an understanding of what their fans like and dislike about their #brand. Twitter provides these celebrities an opportunity to prove that they are just like everyone else.

    @Kelsey_Bendig, @Brian_Burch, @Andrea_Blanton, @Brooke_Keller

  • VitaminWater: Ethically Healthy?

    When asking people about their New Year’s resolutions, you are likely to hear about their well-intentioned dietary goals. Our culture today is fanatical when it comes to weight loss and getting healthy. There are numerous hit TV shows such as “Biggest Loser,” “Celebrity Fit Club,” and “I Used to be Fat” plus piles of trendy diet books littering a great deal of homes across America that all attest to this craze. With people’s insatiable appetite for slimming down quick, it is no wonder that the big players of the industry are trying to cash in, even if it means being dishonest. So where do we cross the line? Isn’t it unethical when companies are turning out products that claim to be good for you but in truth are the opposite?

    By branding and promoting products as healthy, companies are capitalizing on the fact that people will buy almost anything they think will make them healthier, lose weight, or feel better. Some companies have gone to extreme lengths to ensure “healthiness” and “good for you” are  intertwined in their brand message but some go too far. It’s simply unethical for marketers to make a product seem healthy just to soothe our guilty conscience and sell their product. While striving to reach your health goals this year, keep the following misleading speed bumps in mind on your road to getting skinny and staying healthy.

    For example,Vitamin Water has healthy buzz terms in its title yet when you take a closer look at the nutrition label, its marketing campaign is contradicting the actual product. The brand of choice endorsed by our favorite two-coin rapper actually has about 32.5 grams of sugar per bottle. “Vitamin” and “Water” carry healthy connotations in their misleading titles and have relied on clever campaigns that play directly at our desire to be healthy. However, these products don’t in fact deliver on their promise. These little morsels of advertising non-truths can soon turn into a fat lie.
    -By: Alexis Kapczynski, Kacy Cox, Sara Kaloudis and Josh Bowman.

  • Celebs of Hogwarts

    Harry Potter is a name that is known by people worldwide. Known both for the book series and the movies, this brand seems to be everywhere. Although plenty of merchandise sells because of its affiliation with the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter itself is much more than a brand. Harry Potter fans have read the books and seen the movies, and have developed a deep connection with the characters involved. There is an emotional attachment to this brand and therefore anything that sells with the picture or logo for Harry Potter means something more to them. But what seems to be the most representative visual for this brand? Not the creator, J.K. Rowling. This would be Daniel Radcliffe, Rubert Grint, and Emma Watson.

     

                 

    Chances are, if you began watching the movies before you finish reading the books, you would start to imagine these actors in your head as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, instead of the people you imagined before these actors were selected to play the parts. To many Harry Potter fanatics, these people are not just your average celebrities- they are friends.  The actors no longer have any choice but to be marketers for the Harry Potter brand no matter what they are doing. If Daniel Radcliffe gets married, it almost seems as though Harry Potter is getting married. If Emma Watson wears a provocative outfit, it feels like Hermione is being scandalous. So is this type of celebrity life better or worse than those celebrities who are famous just for being themselves? I think it means that these actors have a lot more riding on them than it initially seems.

    -Claire Dillard, Liz LaPuasa

     

     

  • Justin Bieber wants YOU to adopt an animal.

    We all know that celebrities play a huge role in the commercial and marketing industry. We have all seen the Proactiv commercials featuring a long list of celebrities that struggle with acne or a commercial like the one featured in yesterday’s post with Pauly D. In fact, according to the International Journal of Advertising about 25% of all US advertisements use celebrity endorsements and whether we want to admit it or not (ahem…third person media effect), what celebrities do or buy does have an effect on us. But that doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. What about when a celeb uses their influence and power for the greater good? When they help draw attention to a social problem?

    Oprah Winfrey is probably one of the most famous philanthropic celebrities of our time. She has used her show to shed light on many social issues and world issues as well raise millions of dollars for charities across the globe. Her influence is so high that economists at the University of Maryland stated that when she publicly endorsed Obama in the 2008 election, she may have brought in up to one million votes with her. That’s a lot of power. Other celebrities have also started to take a public stance on social issues in order to gain public interest. Jennifer Aniston along with many  other celebrities do commercials for St. Jude’s or in support of animal adoption.  Or as seen in the picture, Justin Bieber has joined with PETA in an effort to get people to adopt animals from their local shelters. The list could go on and on.

    So there’s some food for thought. Although we usually discuss celebrity endorsements with an air of negativity, we should also look at how they help organizations and causes that we, as the general public, might not have noticed without them.

    -Alaethea Hensley, Jessica Kingman, & Lauren Phelps