Practically since the beginning of television, advertisers have been looking for ways to make sure consumers watch their commercials. In the
1970s and 1980s, one favorite way was to hire a celebrity whom viewers
liked to deliver the message.
At right is Vivian Vance, beloved as Ethel Mertz on
I Love Lucy, pitching coffee. Below is movie and TV veteran Martha Raye as a spokesperson for a denture cleanser. They're just two of the classic TV performers who landed ongoing endorsement deals. Such a deal could be quite lucrative, well into six figures per year, without requiring a lot of an actor's time.
"Celebrity broker" Jon Albert explained in 1986, "As the price of network commercials keeps going up and up, there has to
be a tremendous amount of effectiveness in a short time ... Viewers tend to become aware of celebrity commercials a lot quicker than
non-celebrity commercials. By capitalizing on the performer's celebrity
you can give the product some celebrity."
Did this work for you? Did you buy products because they were endorsed by a celebrity?
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