It is increasingly observed that apart from endorsing products and services, celebrities are endorsing such personalities who have sufficient brand worth as celebrities themselves. Some of the personalities thus endorsed are power brands in their own right who inspire many and enjoy significant amount of popularity. The prerequisites for successful personality endorsement are more or less the same as the prerequisites for successful endorsement of products and services. This article analyzes how celebrity endorsements of the Presidential hopefuls played a crucial role in American politics in the recently held presidential elections. Although many Americans opined that celebrity endorsements of candidates had no impact on the voters' psyche, there were evidences which point otherwise.
Celebrity endorsements of Presidential candidates have been an important ingredient in American politics for several years. However, the run-up to the 2008 presidential election witnessed the presence of many Hollywood stars as each presidential hopeful was endorsed by a host of celebrities from the world of entertainment (Exhibit 1). Some of the notable Hollywood personalities who voiced their support for various candidates were Oprah Winfrey, Robert De Niro, George Clooney, Madonna, Sylvester Stallone and many more. The endorsements were instrumental in raising funds for the candidates in addition the free publicity they got. Celebrity endorsements proved to be great crowd pullers at the political rallies of the candidates and many feel that such endorsements often influence voters. However, there are some who disagree in this context. Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University opines that celebrity endorsements may reinforce a voter's decision to vote for a particular candidate but then they do not trigger any switch of a voter's allegiance. |
