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You can’t walk down the street these days without being bombarded with celebrity imagery. Faces of the rich and famous and beautiful are plastered on buses, billboards, and magazine covers. Cashing in on celebrity status often means endorsing products and becoming part of the great consumer economy. We’ve seen it for years. Celebrity branding, as it is often known, is therefore nothing new.

I remember when Michael Jordan cologne first hit shelves. In response to the sheer randomness of it, my sister simply remarked “What does it smell like, sweat?”, and I mirrored her bemused perplexity with something far less eloquent. (WTF?) In my view, it was this product that opened the flood gates for the storm torrent of smelly-water that has since become a massive payday for the fragrance industry and celebrities alike.

M by Mariah Carey (Elizabeth Arden)

Singers, actresses, athletes and even cartoon characters have joined the fight for name-and-scent recognition dominance, including such awkward and unexpected personas as Julio Inglesias, Alan Cumming, and Spider-Man! Wikipedia has a rather shocking list of celebrity-branded or -endorsed fragrances.

Of course fragrances aren’t the only arena where celebs are leaving their mark. Clothing lines such as Aneras by Serena Williams or House of Dereon by Beyoncé have become commonplace. Home products like the George Forman grill no longer raise eyebrows and I dare say that many of us owe a great deal to Jane Fonda’s workout videos from the early 80s. But lately things seem to be going too far, as celebrities are putting their names to credit cards and other financial services.

A recent article from BrandWeek raises the point that celebrity branding has run amuck, and credit services have no viable connection to the original (brand) name. In case you haven’t been reading between the lines, I agree. Credit cards may each have slightly varied rewards schemes, (concert tickets, gas savings, etc.) but they’re pretty generic. What is the motivation for fans and consumers to sign on for further paperwork (and possibly debt) simply to have branded plastic? Is our devotion to these celebrity demigods so hypnotic that we’ll fork over our money in it’s purest form, and without getting a trinket in return?

What strikes me most about this trend is that fact that it signals a jump from products to services. Clothing, perfume, mobile phones and food products all count as fast-moving consumer goods; they don’t cost much, don’t do much damage, and they’ll be gone before anyone takes notice. But when a family’s financial future rests on your one-time obsession to KISS, the game changes. Considering the sorry financial state of the average American family, this is an area in which we should tread with caution.

Need more proof this is a bad idea? Celebrities are themselves going broke. An article from FoxNews illustrates how “[Britney Spears] doesn’t save or invest any of her roughly $737,000 monthly income; financial and entertainment insiders weren’t surprised.” Once you peel back the glimmery exterior, Britney is made of the same stuff as MC Hammer and Michael Jackson, so it’s not at all unexpected. (actually, I don’t know what Michael Jackson is made of these days, but that’s not the point) Save that money, kids, you won’t be famous forever.

Gary Coleman went broke after his parents raided his piggy bank as a kid

I won’t rail too severely against the financial services industry as it’s not my area of expertise. (I’ll leave the finger-pointing to Michael Moore) But I will talk for a moment about Donald Trump. Easily the best-known celebrity businessman, he has lended his name to everything from casinos to steaks since making his fortune in real estate. So when he launched a credit card in 2004, it didn’t shock us. Since financial fortitude is one of The Donald’s core values it fits; becoming a pro wrestler is slightly less natural. On an ironic note, Donald Trump’s tie collection is priced to compete with that of Jerry Garcia, who I think never wore a tie in his life. Where’s the luxury and financial fortitude now?

I fear the trend of celebrity branding is here to stay. And while I would never advocate reading Us Weekly, it can teach us a lesson on branding: celebrity or not, remember to stay true to your values. Don’t extend into products that make no sense, and don’t cross that line between products and services. Mind your brand and mind your consumers, the rest will fall into place.

// a tale of WTF, brands & branding, fashion, music
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