Celebrity PR: Angelina Jolie

While there are so many celebrities in the limelight and in the pages of various gossip magazines for bad PR, it is hard to find even a handful that have great PR. Angelina Jolie is one of these people in the great PR category. From self refection I can remember all the great things I've heard about her family life, her mothering skills, her selfless help in third world countries and when her name comes up these are the things that come to mind. I personally am not even a fan of her as an actress but whoever is in charge of doing her PR is absolutely fabulous and makes sure that every good deed she does gets unnoticed.
I think a genius move on her (her PR people's) part was a recent "retiring" speech that she gave to BBC news where she said "I don't plan to keep acting very long. I'm ready to do a few things now and fade away and get ready to be a grandma one day. I'm not so worried that I want to keep this pace up and try to be something and be a celebrity.
I like being home a lot. First and foremost, I have a lot of children, and I need to make sure they're growing right and they've got us there for them."
She adds, "I don't think I'll ever say I'm never, ever gonna work because maybe there's that interesting project where I feel creative."
This short and concise series of statements from Jolie tells the listener, she cares about her kids and her career is of 2nd importance. But, if we dig deeper what this small speech also does for Jolie is gives her a way to make sure people don't think her career is stifled or that she is getting "too old" for the screen, but that it's her decision to step away gracefully. It also leaves the door open that if something "really strikes her as a way for her to be creative on set" she can do it-- which is a perfect set up for whatever film she decides to come back with. It will catch the consumer at that point by letting them know that the movie script was so amazing that Jolie just had to make a comeback for it. This is genius PR.

"Free Blog" assignment: Celebrity Endorsements
For my "free" assignment I wanted to take a quick look at 2 celebrity endorsements-- one that I find works and the other which I believe is unsuccessful. (This success gaged by the TEARS model)
1st- Kristie Allie in Jenny Craig Commercials
This is the ad campaign I have chosen as a failed campaign. I realize this is an older ad, but it's the first one that comes to mind. This is a detriment to Jenny Craig's name and if anyone else views these ads as a fail like I do it may and most surely has deterred potential customers. The reason Kristie Allie was not a great spokes person for Jenny Craig is most readily based on the fact that most women that care about celebrities read gossip magazines of which she frequented due to her largely fluctuating weight. This news could be compared to Silvester Stilone being in a magazine for smoking something other than Marlboro's (which he didn't). But, besides getting bad press for herself she was acquiring a bad brand image for Jenny Craig as well as making the brand not seem credible.
2nd- P Diddy Proactive Commercial
I chose this as my "successful" celebrity endorsement campaign. P Diddy is a HUGE name and spans so many groups of people as being an important man. He is famous in the music world as well as in the fashion industry, and he is a very well received, composed and credible source of information (in the eyes of the viewers). So, to start Proactive has done a great job chosing their endorser. During the commercial they show before and after pictures of P Diddy as well as having him speak about the results he has had and the impact it's had on him. It sounded like the heart-felt truth (whether it was, or not), and he has retained his name as well as his commitment to the product via the public eye to this day.

Message Appeals:
What works for me?
1- Allstate Commercials: these commercials generally appeals to fear and to consumers that are looking for preventative tactics. These advertisements always get my attention and register in my mind " I need Allstate insurance to be in good hands just in case". The funny thing is that I do not purchase health insurance. I am still under my parents for this expense, but I am sure once I am finished with college and paying for my own insurance these ads will resonate with me and give Allstate the upper hand in my decision.
2-Mac (apple) commercials: The advertisements with the mac vs. the PC would probably fall under humor appeal, but they are always informational as well. These work extremely well for me, and I understand that I am included in their target market, so I would say their campaign is successful. I have already made plans to purchase a mac book over the summer.
What does not work for me?
1-Fragrance Commercials: generally speaking I am extremely put off by fragrance commercials. This being said, it's because they are almost always sex appeal commercials that are to me very cheesy or almost pornographic, neither of which appeals to me in an advertisement. Such examples are the Axe commercials and the Britney Spears "curious" tv ad.
2-Impoverished Children Commercials: Commercials run by groups such as Children International with videos and pictures of poor and hungry children do not appeal to me in the least. Doing charitable work and giving of my time and money are important to me, but ad's that guilt people into giving money are a turn off to me. Especially with companies like this that don't tell you what percentage of the money you give is actually making it to the children and what percentage is kept for the business.