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Celebrity Puppets Essay

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Celebrity Puppets

The concept of using sports stars to market non-sport items has soared to new heights. Every corporation in the world is trying to get the edge over their competitors. The classic example is that of the “Cola Wars.” During the 1980s, Pepsi and Coca Cola began an advertising slugfest, in which Pepsi emerged victorious by using Madonna and Michael Jackson as puppets in their commercials. These two companies, as well as thousands of others, have taken advantage of exposing celebrities in their commercials and advertisements. This is done as a means to persuade the public that these products are worth buying.

As the years went by, marketers began to realize that in America, sports imagery constituted the most popular …show more content…

This is how companies view their celebrity endorsers and partners: the companies see that it can bring in a profit from the celebrities on field successes. To make it look as though these celebrities are not being used, the companies pay them a small dividend as a thank you. In essence, the companies are controlling said celebrities. In the case of Mr. Owens, by dangling him in front of the public eye, the company holds him by the strings to make him do as they wish through a pay-off.

The last decade has seen the emergence of a new breed of celebrities onto the marketing scene. These celebrities are not involved in sports that society easily recognizes. Instead, they are the bowlers of the PBA Tour and the drivers of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. As late as the early 1990s bowling tournaments were named after their specific location and bowlers were viewed as just that, bowlers. Advancements in bowling ball technology created a more competitive field of bowlers and a new and younger generation of marketers has realized that these bowlers are a great source of advertising for their products. As a result, today’s PBA bowlers wear patches with their sponsors on them. Some have even gone as far as placing their major sponsors’ logo on their spare balls. These sponsors include Odor Eaters, Pepsi, Miller High Life, Holiday Inn, and Baby Ruth, to name a few.

NASCAR, the nation’s fastest growing sport, has received sponsor money since its creation.

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