celebrity ethics

DOI: 10.2501/JAR-51-3-499-510 september 2011 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH 499

InTRODUCTIOn

Celebrities seemingly are everywheretelevision,

magazines, newspapers, radio, and the Internet.

Celebrities, broadly defined, are well-known indi-

viduals who receive significant media attention

(McCracken, 1989). These public figures include

actors, athletes, musicians, models, and even chefs,

authors, journalists, and politicians. They are cre-

ated, promoted, and sold to us through the mass

media. As consumers, we buy celebrities by

going to their movies, watching them play a sport,

and listening to their music, insights, or witticisms.

In addition to selling themselves, celebrities also

endorse goods, services, and ideas. In this func-

tion, they lend their name, their image and, most

important, their personal meaning to the brands

they promote.

Using a celebrity athlete to endorse a product

is a tempting strategic proposition for advertis-

ers and marketers because it holds the promise of

higher awareness (Carison and Donavan, 2008)

and greater consumer loyalty (Bush, Martin, and

Bush, 2004). In 2009, sports sponsorship spend-

ing was $11.2 billion (Fitch, Ozanian, and Baden-

hausen, 2010). Nike, for instance, spent more than

$4 billion in 2009 for the privilege of having the

worlds greatest athletes represent its products

(Kaplan, 2010).

As witnessed by the recent scandal surrounding

Tiger Woods, however, these types of investments

have downside risks. In addition to disappointing

financial returns, the selection of an athlete also

can raise questions about a firms ethical stand-

ards and judgment. Of course, some firms actively

seek a bad-boy endorser who can appeal to a

particular target demographic (Burton, Farrelly,

and Quester, 2001); others find themselves sad-

dled with an endorser who gets caught behaving

badly. In either case, firms can jeopardize their

ethical reputation (and more) when they enter into

an endorsement relationship with a well-known

athlete (Laczniak, Burton, and Murphy 1999).

The conceptual commentary presented here

develops a virtue-ethics-based framework for

TheEthicsofCelebrityAthleteEndorsementWhatHappensWhenaStarStepsOutofBounds?

FELICIAM.MILLER

Marquette university

felicia.miller@

marquette.edu

GEnER.LACZnIAK

Marquette university

eugene.laczniak@

marquette.edu

celebrity athletes are a mainstay of popular culture and an increasingly important part of

the marketing ecosystem. As product endorsers, they can influence brand attitudes and

sales but also have broader societal implications for the firm. The recent string of bad

behavior by celebrity athletes raises important ethical questions about firms that use the

famous and infamous to endorse branded products. The conceptual framework presented

in the current study provides a theoretical approachbased on virtue ethicsfor evaluating

the retention of tainted celebrity affiliates. This framework is applied to three well-known

situations to examine the ethical implications of what initially were good choices for firms,

their brands, and their consumers. The overarching goal of this article is to stimulate

managers to think more deeply about the interconnections between their core company

values, the athlete endorsers they select, and the ultimate effect of those decisions on

their brands in the marketplace if things go wrong.

500 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH september 2011

THE ETHIcs OF cELEBRITyATHLETE EnDORsEMEnT

examining the use and retention of celeb-

rity athletes to endorse branded products.

It begins with a review of the endorsement

literature. This is followed by a discussion

of virtue-based ethics and its relevance for

advertising professionals. This results in

a general framework that can be adopted

by firms that aspire to a higher and more

consistent standard of morality in their

advertising practices. The framework is

then used, post facto, to examine firm deci-

sions regarding the continued use of three

celebrity athletes after questionable off-

the-field behavior.

In the end, this article helps illuminate

some of the potential benefits, risks, and

ethical implications of choosing and keep-

ing an athlete endorser. This issue is dis-

cussed at the firm, brand, and consumer

levels and provides managers with a

novel, ethics-based perspective for analyz-

ing such endorsement decisions.

THECELEBRITYEnDORSER

The use of celebrity endorsers can be traced

back to the late 1800s (Erdogan, 1999). Each

year, marketers spend billions of dollars on

celebrities who endorse everything from

athletic shoes to vacation destinations.

McCracken, in the pages of the Journal

of Consumer Research, defined the celebrity

endorser as any individual who enjoys

public recognition and who uses this rec-

ognition on behalf of a consumer good by

appearing with it in an advertisement

(McCracken 1989, p. 310). The definition

includes the following:

Explicit endorsement (I recommend

this product)

Implicit endorsement (I use this

product)

Co-present endorsement (I merely

appear with this product).

This definition clearly includes both the

celebrity athlete who is an expert in the

product category (e.g., Phil Mickelson and

Callaway Golf) or has a significant, long-

term association with the brand (e.g., Jeff

Gordon and DuPont). Athletes represent

a significant portion of overall celebrity

endorsements (Bush et al., 2004).

Allowing a celebrity athlete to repre-

sent a brand is a high-risk/high-reward

proposition and is becoming more peril-

ous (Brodesser-Akner, 2007). Advertisers

are more cautious than ever with endorse-

ment deals because of the ongoing barrage

of counterproductive pairings. In extreme

instances of endorsements gone awry, the

sponsoring firm may receive negative

publicity and social pressure to respond

to the actions of their paid affiliate. A

companys image can also be negatively

affected by the firms decision to retain

an endorser who is involved in a negative

event for which he is to blame (Louie and

Obermiller, 2002). In addition, the surge in

negative attention can have a short-term

effect on a firms stock price (Knittel and

Stango, 2010).

The conventional academic approach

to researching celebrity effects has

focused on endorsers characteristics that

will likely result in more positive (or nega-

tive) attitudes toward an endorsed brand

(Dholakia and Sternthal, 1977; Kamins,

Brand, Hoeke, and Moe, 1989; Sternthal,

Dholakia, and Leavitt, 1978).

Findings suggest that these characteris-

tics include the following:

Attractiveness (Kamins, 1990)

Expertise (Till and Busler, 2000)

Trustworthiness (Ohanian, 1990).

Empirical results are strongest when the

celebrity is judged to match with the

product, particularly when the endorser

is perceived as an expert on the product

or product category (Kamins and Gupta,

1994). For example, in one study, more

positive attitudes were attributed toward

a fictitious product (Laparo sport drink)

when it was paired with a celebrity ath-

lete (Michael Jordan) than when it was

matched with a non-athlete celebrity

(Pierce Brosnan) (Till, Stanley, and Priluck,

2008). Other research, however, has found

that an expert celebrity athlete does not

always produce positive outcomes for a

well-known brand (Koernig and Boyd,

2009).

From a consumer culture perspective,

the process that drives celebrity endorse-

ment success has been explained as mean-

ing transfer (Langmeyer and Walker, 1991;

Levy, 1959; McCracken, 1989; Mick, 1986).

In 1989, McCracken described how celeb-

ritiesincluding athletesobtained and

transferred cultural meaning to the brands

they endorsed. In such cases, it is the celeb-

ritys cultural meaning and the transfer of

that meaning that influence effectiveness

as an endorser. This process evolves in

three stages:

Stage 1: The athlete acquires meaning

from his or her public roles on and off

the field.

Stage 2: The athletes meaning is

instilled in a given product through the

advertising system. (In this stage, the

choice of celebrity should be based on

what meaning the marketer wants to

instill in their product.)

Celebrity athletes are a mainstay of popular

culture and an increasingly important

part of the marketing ecosystem.

september 2011 JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING RESEARCH 501


Stage 3: The consumer appropriates the

products new meaning into her or his

life. This process occurs through ritu-

alistic use, exchange, and care for the

product.

In North America, McCrackens three-

stage process occurs within the larger

cultural context of a celebrity world that

seems to fascinate many people. This

preoccupation with the famous (and the

infamous) is consistent with consumer

efforts to continually redefine themselves

with respect to the culture in which they

live. As McCracken has noted, North

Americans are not star crazy but merely

active consumers of the meanings that are

made available by the celebrity world

(McCracken, 2005, p. 113).

One study used a 25-item semantic dif-

ferential scale to assess celebrity and prod-

uct meaning before and after endorsement

(Walker, Langmeyer, and Langmeyer,

1992). The research found that a celeb-

ritys meaning does affect the meaning

of a generic product. More recently, in a

direct test of the second stage of McCrack-

ens model, research disclosed that celeb-

rity meaning is transferred to the brand

(Miller and Allen, under review). Spe-

cifically, the Gap brand was paired with

a trio of controversial female celebrities

(Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Jessica

Simpson). After the pairing, beliefs about

the brand were more consistent with the

beliefs about each celebrity (i.e., con-

troversial, trashy, and cheap). This

shift, in fact, produced a more negative

attitude toward the brand. Logic suggests

that this same sort of meaning-transfer

process occurs for celebrity athletes who

endorse products.

vIRTUE-BASEDETHICS

Virtue ethics is a comprehensive theory

of ethics based on the notion that persons

(and organizations) have an obligation to

aspire to noble ideals so that, when encoun-

tering a difficult situation with moral impli-

cations, they will be disposed out of habit

to do the right thing (Laczniak and Mur-

phy, 1993).

The ancient Greeksand Aristotle, in

particularmaintained that individuals

had a duty to improve their character to

contribute to the community of which they

were a part. The idea was that in subscrib-

ing to characteristics that had been broadly

acclaimed as good and noblevirtues

such as courage, justice, temperance (i.e.,

self control), and prudencethe commu-

nity would flourish in a more effective and

equitable manner.

An underlying and important assump-

tion behind the virtues approach was that

personal contribution to the betterment of

the communitythrough individual self-

improvementwas an understood obliga-

tion of good citizenship (Solomon, 1999).

The Roman Cicero, in fact, used appeals to

virtue to argue that business practices such

as price gouging and the non-disclosure of

significant property defects were unethi-

cal because they would be destructive to

the trust necessary for future commercial

transactions (MacIntyre, 1984).

Interestingly, there has been a mod-

ern revival of virtue-based ethics as an

approach to business mission and man-

agement. Many organizations list assorted

values as part of their formal mission state-

ments and code of ethics. Such corporate

values can be readily seen as a modern

day synonym for the more classical termi-

nology of virtues.

For example, GSD&M, an Austin, Texas,

advertising agency, actually carved its

guiding valuesincluding integrity

and responsibilityinto the foyer of

its corporate headquarters (Murphy,

Laczniak, Bowie, and Klein, 2005). The

corporate popularity of the servant-

leadership model might also be viewed

through a virtue-ethics lens whereby the

servant leader foregoes the more bombas-

tic leadership characteristics of dynamism

and high visibility for the (more virtuous)

person-centered ones of empathy, loyalty

and trust-building (Greenleaf, 1977).

Polls of managers consistently have

revealed a certain set of virtues that tend

to be associated with effective and fair-

minded business leaders (Laczniak and

Murphy, 1993). Such lists have typically

included decisiveness, efficiency, integrity,

independence, and trust.

Although the virtue-ethics approach is

not composed of specific decision rules,

it nevertheless possesses its own internal

logic, including the following:

The virtues that should be emulated

often are found in role models thought

by society to be moral exemplars. In a

business context, this might involve

benchmarking the practices of other

business organizations that have been

acclaimed as virtuous for their supe-

rior product innovations, long-term

social responsibility, and exceptional

customer satisfaction or employee

loyalty.

Virtue is developed over time by rep-

etition. Just as a person becomes a good

chess player by studying and playing

that game for thousands of hours, busi-

nesses develop virtue by habitually

From a consumer culture perspective, the process

that drives celebrity endorsement success

has been explained as meaning transfer.



cultivating the critical characteristics of

trustworthiness, integrity, responsibil-

ity, and so forth.

Virtue ethics requires an inherent rec-

ognition of the importance of balance,

sometimes referred to as the ethic of

the mean. Typically, virtuous behav-

iors involve striking just the right bal-

ance of a certain quality at the right

time. For example, companies must

be courageous in seizing economic

opportunity, but such economic cour-

age also requires being neither too risk

averse nor too overly aggressive in their

strategies.

The consequence of subscribing to these

three dimensions is to create managers

or even entire corporate culturesthat are

rich in practical wisdom. Such practical

wisdom (or praxis) is the gold standard

of virtue ethics; it is the possession of the

essential qualities necessary to make wise

and dependable judgments on a consistent

and ongoing basis.

vIRTUEETHICSAnDADvERTISInG

PRACTICE

For advertisers, it is through the cultiva-

tion of practical wisdom that the ancient

concept of virtue ethics becomes truly

meaningful (Williams and Murphy, 1990).

What is more valuable to the twenty-first-

century enterprise than the likelihood

that its key decision makers will respond

appropriately when facing complex adver-

tising issues?

Virtue ethics makes compelling sense

because it provides a normative ethi-

cal template against which advertising

practices can be tested. Without some

standard to arbitrate the consistency of

advertising messages being sent (includ-

ing reevaluations of a campaign when

circumstances change), advertisers are

left with only ethical relativism (i.e., to

each her own).

In practice, the advertiser that aspires

to a virtue-ethics standard of morality

should generally adhere to the following

procedures:

Identify the key virtues that embody the

companys philosophy.

In some instances, as suggested earlier,

certain values will have already been

articulated by the firms mission state-

ment and perhaps ingrained into the very

DNA of the corporate culture over time.

In other cases, new values essential to

the firms evolving self identity will be

added.

In the absence of explicit corporate val-

ues, the American Marketing Association

(AMA) provides a set of values that ought

to be seriously considered as central vir-

tues to be embraced as a matter of course.

For those few firms that do not have their

own distinct corporate culture or state-

ment on ethics, the AMA Code can serve

as a default template for defining ideal

virtues.

The six foundational values set forth in

the AMAs Statement on Ethics (2008) are

as follows:

Honesty

Responsibility

Fairness

Respect

Transparency

Citizenship.

Unlike other sets of virtues, these

six values are designed specifically and

discussed in sufficient business detail

for purposes of helping shape admirable

marketing behavior consistent with soci-

etal expectations and professional norms.

Operationalize these key characteristics

into the marketing strategy and tactics of

the organization.

Case in point: PepsiCo lists Care for

Our Customers, Our Consumers and the

World We Live in as one of its guiding

principles. Consistent with this mission,

the company was an early participant in

the Childrens Food and Beverage Adver-

tising Initiative (Ward and Grant, 2005).

Since 2007, PepsiCo has fulfilled its com-

mitment to advertise and market to chil-

dren only those products that meet specific

nutrition criteria intended to encourage

the consumption of healthier food and

beverage products.

In addition, the firm has worked with

the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to

eliminate the sale of its high-calorie bev-

erages in United States elementary, mid-

dle, and high schools. PepsiCo recently

announced the launch of a similar pro-

gram outside the United States (Associ-

ated Press, 2010).

To integrate this mission into its

endorsement practices, PepsiCo should

select athletes who embody its core values.

Monitor whether the central and pro-

fessed virtues of the enterprise are fol-

lowed with sufficient constancy. When

the implied values of the firm are incon-

sistent with the good of the commu-

nity, the firm may be in ethical jeopardy.

Like any audit, value-driven positioning

requires tracking to establish whether

the business values espoused by the

For advertisers, it is through the cultivation of

practical wisdom that the ancient concept of

virtue ethics becomes truly meaningful.



organization hold up through all kinds of

marketing communications.

To this end, many companies experiment

with a triple-bottom-line approach to

assessing the effectiveness of their opera-

tions (Elkington, 1998). In addition to the

standard financial metrics, other measures

include the following:

Environmental impactconditions

that are increasingly required by law in

certain industries (e.g., energy, heavy

manufacturing, mining)

Social sustainabilitythe attempt to

measure the social impact of doing busi-

ness on all societal stakeholders. Such a

metric necessarily includes explicit ref-

erence to the values that the company

claims to hold central.

Since the marketing function of an enter-

prise is fundamentally consumer-oriented ,

values concerned with elevating customer

relationships are of particular interest. In

this regard, a case has been made in the

literature that the virtue of trust is the pri-

mary quality in the enhancement of cus-

tomer relationships (Murphy, Laczniak,

and Wood, 2007). Because economic insti-

tutions are an important part of the larger

social fabric of a community, however,

corporations also have a vital role and

responsibility to promulgate healthy val-

ues in their promotional campaigns to the

society at largebeyond simply customer

trust. Continually vetting celebrityathlete

endorsers for their continued congruence

with company values would seem a logi-

cal extension of such thinking.

The procedure described above provides

an ethical framework for evaluating

endorsement decisions (See Figure 1).

When considering this framework, it

is important to recall that the meaning-

transfer model of celebrity endorse-

ment is based on the idea that firms are

intentionally trying to shape the meaning

of their brand such that it is more consist-

ent with that of the characteristics embod-

ied by the athlete.

At the outset, the values or virtues

between the sponsor and its celebrity

athlete endorser should be harmonious.

In other words, marketers and their

advertising agencies initially must select

athlete endorsers who seem to repre-

sent the qualities the brand aspires to. If

at some point, however, the endorsers

cultural meaning or essential qualities

conflict with the central values of the

firm, an ethical transgression has likely

occurred. In such instances, the enterprise

must reassess the endorsement relation-

ship considering the costs and benefits

of continuing to allow the celebrity ath-

lete to represent the brand. And, in these

instances, the firms own mission state-

ment, its code of ethics, or even a restate-

ment of the AMAs Statement of Ethics can

provide a lens through which marketers

can assessand reassesstheir decisions

with respect to celebrity endorsements.

To illustrate the usefulness of this frame-

work and the complexity of ethical trans-

gression, we examine the endorsement

relationships of three well-known celeb-

rity athletes: Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps,

and Tiger Woods.

These three were selected for discussion

because they have represented the high-

est level of achievement in their respec-

tive sports. In addition, each has amassed

lucrative product endorsements that they

subsequently lost owing to their negative

off-the-field behavior.

In the material that follows, the authors

provide a brief background for each ath-

lete, with notation of his indiscretions and

the firms he represented before and after

the incident. This is followed by an assess-

ment of the firms reaction to the athletes

behavior based on its professed corporate

values and public statements.

Through the lens of an ethical frame-

work, the authors conclude with firm-

level implications and recommendations

on how to manage an athlete endorser

before and after his fall from grace.

Ensure that celebrity athlete matches the firms espoused values at the time of selection.

Consider the likelihood of negative off-the-field behavior.

Review corporate values and principles. Adapt values from AMA Statement of Ethics.

Reassess endorsement relationship if there are changes in the athletes meaning.

Understand the implications of discontinuing, continuing or deferring an endorsement relationship.

Operationalize

Identify

Monitor

Figure1 virtue Ethics Framework for celebrity Athlete Endorsers



THECELEBRITYATHLETEEnDORSER:

THREETRAnSGRESSORS

KobeBryant:20032009

The Los Angeles Lakers won three NBA

championships (20002002) during Kobe

Bryants first seven seasons with the team.

During that time, Bryant received four

All-NBA honors and made All-Star game

appearances. In June, 2003, Bryant signed

a 4-year, $40 million endorsement deal

with Nike (Staff Reporter, 2003) and was

also representing McDonalds, Nutella,

and Coca-Cola (Sprite).

In July 2003, Bryant was charged with

felony sexual assault in Eagle, Colorado.

In a tearful press conference with his wife,

Bryant admitted that he had had sex with a

19-year old hotel employee but claimed it

was consensual (Surico, 2003). After more

than a year of media coverage and public

speculation, the criminal case was dis-

missed in September 2004 (Saporito, 2004),

and a civil lawsuit was settled the follow-

ing March (Staff Reporter, 2005). Through-

out the legal process, Bryant maintained

his innocence and continued to be an

active member of the Lakers. He signed a

7-year contract extension 2 months before

the criminal case was dismissed.

McDonalds, Nutella, and Coca-Cola

(Sprite) opted not to renew endorsement

deals with Bryant shortly after he was

charged with felony sexual assault. By

contrast, Nike kept Bryant under contract

but did not feature him in any advertising

or promotional materials until February

2006, when he appeared in a controversial

set of television advertisements (Mahoney,

2006)a series of defiant, provocative

Love Me or Hate Me commercials

that did not directly address the sexual

assault case but clearly spoke to mixed fan

reaction.

Since 2006, Bryant has been featured in

numerous Nike television campaigns and,

in January 201, the brand launched Bry-

ants fifth signature shoe. Bryant also has

several other smaller endorsement deals

including one with Coca-Cola (Vitamin

Water).

MichaelPhelps:20082010

At the 2001 Spring Nationals, 15-year-old

Michael Phelps became the youngest male

ever to set a world record in swimming

(Phelps and Cazeneuve, 2008). He went

on to win a gold medal at the 2001 World

Championships, three gold medals at the

2003 World Championships and, at the age

of 19, became the first athlete to win eight

medals (six gold and two bronze) at a fully

attended Olympics. In 2008, he became the

first athlete to win eight gold medals at a

single Olympic games.

After the 2008 Olympics, Phelps

signed endorsement deals with Kelloggs

(August) and Subway (December). Kel-

loggs featured Phelps on several prod-

uct packages; Subway planned television

advertisements that were to air in early

2009 (Anonymous, 2009; Jack, 2008).

Phelps also represented Speedo, Omega

watches, Hilton Hotels, and Visa.

In January 2009, Londons News of the

World published a picture of Phelps in

which he appeared to be smoking from a

bong, a device commonly used to inhale

marijuana (York and Mullman, 2009).

Phelps confirmed that the photograph was

a picture of him at a party in November

2008. He also apologized for using bad

judgment and vowed not to make this

mistake again (Crouse, 2009). Phelps was

suspended from competition for 3 months

by USA Swimming, the sports national

governing body, and did not return to

competition until May 2009 (York and

Mullman, 2009).

After Phelps acknowledgment of his

transgression, Kelloggs announced that

it would not renew his contract, which

was set to expire at the end of February.

The company spokesperson indicated that

Michaels most recent behavior is not

consistent with the image of Kelloggs

(Vranica and Futterman, 2009).

Subway, Phelps newest partner, ini-

tially was hesitant to address the issue but

eventually decided to keep him under con-

tract but delay the advertising campaign

(York, 2009). Speedo, Omega, Hilton, and

Visa also continued their relationship with

Phelps. In July 2009, Subway began air-

ing a series of ads entitled Be Yourself

featuring Phelps and long-time brand

spokesman Jared Fogel (Heil, 2009). In

September, Speedo extended its partner-

ship with Phelps through 2013 (Associated

Press, 2009).

TigerWoods:20092010

In 1978, at the age of two, Eldrick (Tiger)

Woods showcased his golf skills against

comedian Bob Hope on The Mike Doug-

las Show. By the time he became a profes-

sional golfer in 1996, he had amassed an

unprecedented three U.S. Junior Amateur

Championships and three U.S. Amateur

Championships. He won two tourna-

ments in his first year on the PGA tour and

was named Rookie of the Year and one of

the most renowned sports runsof any

kindwas on. To date, Tiger Woods has

won 95 tournaments including 14 major

championships.

By September 2009, Fortune magazine

reported that his career earnings had

reached 10 figures (Badenhausen, 2009).

Contributing more than $100 million per

year to his on-the-course earnings were

lucrative endorsement relationships that

included Nike, AT&T, Accenture, and

Gillette.

On November 27, 2009, Woods report-

edly was involved in a one-car automo-

bile accident just outside his home in a

Florida gated community. Two days later,

in an Internet post, Woods took responsi-

bility for the accident, praised his wifes

attempts to aid him after the crash, and

asked for privacy. In the weeks to come, an



array of sordid details focusing on numer-

ous extramarital affairs began to emerge.

On December 2, 2009, Woods posted

another statement on his Web site

acknowledging that he has not been true

to his values and expressing regret for his

transgressions. Just a little more than a

week later, Woods announced he was tak-

ing an indefinite leave from the game of

professional golf to focus on being a bet-

ter husband, father and person. After his

self-imposed exile, the media firestorm

grew, epitomized by The New York Posts

Tiger Woods Babes: 2010 Calendar and

reported Tiger sightings at a Mississippi

clinic that specializes in the treatment of

sex addition (Martinez, 2010).

Woodss actions and his unexpected hia-

tus from golf gave his endorsement part-

ners an opportunity to reevaluate their

relationship with him:

Accenture, a global business consul-

tancy whose long-running advertising

campaign featured Woods golf course

judgment as a surrogate for its wise

counsel, dropped him as an endorser on

December 13, 2009 (McCarthy, 2010).

AT&T announced that it would no

longer sponsor Tiger Woods on the golf

course; the AT&T logo had been embla-

zoned on Woods golf bag during the

2009 season (Vranica, 2010).

Gillette (razors) and Tag Heuer (watches)

announced that they would limit the use

of Woods image in future advertising.

Gillette characterized its actions as a

long timeout (Dorman, 2009).

Nike, the golf pros biggest endorse-

ment partner, announced its support

for Woods, as did EA Sports (golf video

game) and Upper Deck (Tiger Woods

action figure).

Woods returned to competition in

April 2010 at the Masters, where he fin-

ished in fourth place. On the first day of

competition, Nike ran a television adver-

tisement featuring Woods and the voice

of his late father, who is credited with

cultivating his sons golf talent and men-

tal toughness from an early age. The elder

Woods speaks to his son and says, I want

to find out what your thinking was

what your feelings are, and did you learn

anything.

LESSOnSInETHICALDECISIOnMAKInG

Looking across the three celebrity athletes

situations, clear themes emerge related to

the firms actions after the scandal. These

themes are not specific to any one athlete

or one enterprise; instead, they are a func-

tion of the firms actions and their ethical

implications.

The companies that sponsored the

endorsements can be grouped into three

categories (See Figure 2):

Those that decided to discontinue the

endorsement relationship

Those that decided to continue the

relationship

Those that deferred their decision.

(This last group includes firms that kept

the athlete under contract but explic-

itly indicated that they would limit or

delay using the athletes image for some

period of time.)

DiscontinuedRelationship

The strongest lessons came from those

organizations that discontinued their

endorsement relationship in the wake of

scandal.

For these enterprises, there appeared to

be a clear connection between living their

professed ethical values and their busi-

ness strategy, which likely motivated their

actions. For example, Accentures success

as a global consultancy firm is based on a

core Code of Business Ethicsvirtues that

included integrity, respect, and fairness.

Accenture relies on these virtues to dis-

tinguish itself from its competitors and to

establish long-term partnerships with their

clients. When considered together, these

core values go a long way to creating prac-

tical wisdomthat characteristic of good

Firm

Actions

Discontinue

Continue

Defer

KobeBryant

McDonalds

Sprite

Nutella

Nike

Michael Phelps

Kelloggs

SpeedoOmega

Hilton HotelsVisa

Subway

TigerWoods

Accenture

AT&T

NikeEA SportsUpper Deck

Gillette

Tag Heuer

Figure2 summary of Firm Actions



judgment so essential to a respected

organization and the gold standard virtue

ethics. A business consulting firm that tries

to operate without perceived integrity and

sound judgment may as well dissolve

itself.

An examination of the Accenture print

and television ads clearly suggests that

these virtues also played an important

role in the 6-year campaign that featured

Tiger Woods. When Woods behaved in a

way that was contrary to the firms values,

however, Accenture was compelled to dis-

continue its relationship with him.

As Accenture states,

For the past six years, Accenture and Tiger

Woods have had a very successful sponsor-

ship arrangement and his achievements on

the golf course have been a powerful meta-

phor for business success in Accentures

advertising. However, given the circum-

stances of the last two weeks the com-

pany has determined that [Tiger Woods]

is no longer the right representative for its

advertising.

Like Accenture, McDonalds, Nutella,

and Kelloggs consider themselves

brands whose imagery is closely tied to

their corporate values. In addition, their

focus on products for children and fami-

lies has heightened their need to main-

tain an image consistent with the values

they espouse. Kelloggs corporate values

include integrity, humility, and account-

ability. These values are represented in the

companys decision to end their endorse-

ment relationship with Michael Phelps

after his drug related incident. As a corpo-

rate spokesperson unambiguously stated,

Michaels most recent behavior is not

consistent with the image of Kelloggs.

Although the decision to discontinue

the endorsement relationship appeared

to be rooted in the firms ethical values,

there may have been other motivations. As

discussed earlier, a celebritys meaning is

an important factor in his or her success as

an endorser. For each of these celebrities,

questionable behavior changed that mean-

ing. And although the change was unique

for each athlete, they all gained an element

of controversy as well as public disgrace

that was not previously part of their mean-

ing profile. For the firms that discontinued

the relationship, this change in meaning

made the athletes endorsement signifi-

cantly less appealing for their brand.

ContinuedRelationship

For those firms that decided to keep their

endorsements in place even in the face of

presumed scandal, it seems clear that the

celebritys meaning was still valuable to

the brandmore so than acting in accord-

ance with the ethical values they espoused.

Nikes Inside the Lines Code of Eth-

ics, for instance, uses sports terminology

to describe the companys core values:

honesty, loyalty, trustworthiness,

fairness, concern for others, and

accountability. As a matter of policy,

Nike employees are required to review

Inside the Lines annually and acknowl-

edge their understanding of the policies.

Despite this strong internal stance,

Nikes decision to keep Bryant under

contract was clearly a move to retain the

option to capitalize on his powerful mean-

ing in the future. When asked about their

newly signed celebrity athlete shortly after

he was charged with sexual assault, a Nike

spokesperson declined to comment on the

legal case but offered, We are pleased to

have a relationship with Kobe Bryant. He

is a great player.

Nikes reaction to Tiger Woods alleged

serial infidelity was similar. Company co-

founder Phil Knight commented, Obvi-

ously, he was one we checked out and

he came out clean, and I think hes been

really great. When his career is over, youll

look back on these indiscretions as a

minor blip, but the media is making a big

deal out of it right now (Mickle, 2009). In

both cases, Nike decided that adultery

an offense that both Woods and Bryant

both admitted todid not violate its cor-

porate values.

Finally, the companies that continued

their endorsement relationship undoubt-

edly considered the celebritys post-scan-

dal meaning in their ultimate decision. It

is reasonable to assume that Nike, Speedo,

EA Sports, and other firms that continued

with associations with the athletes heavily

weighted the athletes sports-related asso-

ciations, which remained intact after the

scandal, against their corporate values.

Speedo, for instance, lists honesty,

fairness, and respect for people

among its corporate values. In a statement

of support for Michael Phelps, the com-

pany said,

Speedo would like to make it clear that it

does not condone such behavior and we

know Michael truly regrets his action

Michael is a valued member of the Speedo

team and a great champion. We will do all

that we can to support him and his family.

Hilton Hotels Corporation issued a

similar statement: We continue to sup-

port Michael Phelps as an athlete whose

numerous athletic feats outshine an act of

regrettable behavior. For these compa-

nies, the exceptional performance and tal-

ent of the athlete in his sport was clearly

more relevant than his out-of-the-pool

indiscretions.

DeferredEndorsementDecisions

Like the firms that continued the relation-

ships, the firms that deferred their deci-

sion also sought to protect the long-term

potential of the endorsement. The actions

of these firms, however, also seemed to

express ambivalence toward their corpo-

rate values.



On the one hand, these firms seemed to

be aware of the risks (ethical, financial, etc.)

associated with their athlete-endorser but

were unwilling to take a definitive stance

at the time of the incident. For example,

Procter & Gambles Gillette walked a fine

line in its statement regarding its relation-

ship with Woods:

In the midst of a difficult and unfortunate

situation, we respect the action Tiger is tak-

ing to restore the trust of his family, friends

and fans As Tiger takes a break from the

public eye we will support his desire for pri-

vacy by limiting his role in our marketing

programs.

This moderate response for the lead-

ing consumer packaged-goods company

seemed to fly in the face of its professed

corporate values of trust, integrity, leader-

ship, and a passion for winning.

Subway took a similar middle-of-the-

road position with Michael Phelps when

it removed his image from its Web site

and delayed his television campaign for

6 months. In a statement, the company

noted, Like most Americans and like

Michael Phelps himself, we were disap-

pointed in his behavior Also like most

Americans, we accept his apology. Moving

forward, he remains in our plans.

IMPLICATIOnSFORCELEBRITY-

EnDORSEMEnTMAnAGEMEnT

What strategic propositions can be inferred

from all of the foregoing?

Based on an analysis of the three situ-

ations, there are some important recom-

mendation for advertising managers as an

extension of our virtue ethics framework.

Although legally actionable morality

clauses in endorsement contracts allow

marketers to terminate endorsement

relationships, such language provides

little protection from the negative effects

the celebrity endorsers unaccept-

able behavior can have on the brand.

Given this, virtue ethics, as discussed

earlier, should be used as an essential

first screen for the selection of ethically

appropriate brand-athlete pairings.

Of equalif not greaterimportance is

the need to consider the likelihood that,

at some point in the future, the athlete

could acquire meaning that would con-

flict with the firms espoused values.

Guarding against this possibility begins

with continually vetting all endors-

ers. Although some may opine that a

sponsoring firm could not have known

about Woods secret life, ongoing due

diligence may have uncovered this char-

acter defect years before his fateful car

accident (Barra, 2010).

In addition to monitoring endorser

behavior, firms should develop an exit

strategy that clearly delineates what

actions will be taken if the endorsers

meaning shifts away from the firms

espoused values. Rather than waiting

for a firestorm to erupt, the savvy adver-

tiser should have a plan for distanc-

ing itself and its brands from a tainted

endorser.

Advertisers must respond promptly

when there is a real or perceived tension

between achieving commercial success

and adhering to its professed values to

protect its social reputation. Consumer

responses to advertising communica-

tions using celebrities (e.g., Subway/

Michael Phelps) can (and often does)

result in increased product consump-

tion (e.g., sandwiches) but may also

reinforce messages that are not socially

desirable (e.g., it is sometimes per-

missible to use illegal drugs). In these

instances, a firm that is slow to react can

be cast as socially irresponsiblea per-

ception that can have a negative, long-

term impact on company reputation,

brand evaluation, and sales.

In an increasingly crowded marketplace

and challenging economic environ-

ment, more consumers have turned to

corporate reputation (e.g., community

involvement, green marketing) as a

means to differentiate brands and guide

purchases (Sen and Bhattacharya, 2001).

In this manner, virtue matters, both

intrinsically and to the extent it may

affect the bottom line.

The common use of athletes in promo-

tional campaigns seems to be a reflec-

tion of the celebrity culture in which we

live. Stipulating that meaning transfer

transpires when sponsors select a celeb-

rity endorser, it can be argued that they

not only are shaping brand meaning but

are creating social messages for which

they bear some responsibility.

Whether intentional or not, certain

endorsement choices send troubling

social and cultural messages. For exam-

ple, Danica Patricks sexually provocative

ads for GoDaddy.com gained significant

media attention for the brand. For some,

however, they also reinforced stereotypes

based on an analysis of the three situations, there

are some important recommendation for advertising

managers as an extension of our virtue ethics framework.



of women as sex objects. Given this, firms

should be very aware of the secondary

messages they send in their choice of

celebrity endorser and how such impres-

sions can affect its stakeholders and soci-

ety at large.

COnCLUSIOn

Celebrity endorsements undoubtedly will

continue to be an important part of adver-

tising practice. In the current consumer

culture, the good will of celebrity athletes

obviously can be an effective tool for gen-

erating awareness and sales for a brand. At

the same time, using an athlete to promote

a brand can have unanticipated negative

effects on that brand given the unpredict-

able nature of their off-the-field behavior.

Understanding this, marketers must

find ways to mitigate the risks of using a

celebrity athlete as an endorser. Virtue eth-

ics, linked to the core values professed by

each individual firm, is put forward here

as a useful conceptual framework to help

analyze whether a celebrity athlete should

be retained after engaging in negative

behaviors.

As more firms experience the dys-

functions of an athletic endorsers bad

behavior, there may well be an increase

in corporations using an entire team or

sports league to endorse their product

rather than linking their brand image to

the likeness and image of a single, unpre-

dictable individual.

In the final analysis, companies must

think more deeply about how they can

avoid disconnects between their espoused

corporate virtues and the brand meanings

that athlete endorsers gone bad may

foment in a fickle marketplace.

FeLicia m. miLLer is an assistant professor of marketing

at Marquette university. Her research focuses on

brand management issues, particularly the co-creation

of brand meaning and the evolution of consumer-

brand relationships. Dr. Miller co-authored a chapter

in the most recent edition of the Handbook of Consumer

Psychology and the forthcoming Consumer Brand

Relationships. Her research interests and classroom

insights are informed by a decade of work experience

in the brand management organization at the Procter &

Gamble company. Miller holds a PhD in marketing from

the university of cincinnati.

Gene r. Laczniak is a professor of marketing at Marquette

university. From 1998 to 2002, Laczniak was the

associate vice president/provost for academic affairs

at the university. He has also been a visiting professor

of management at the university of western Australia

(Perth) on several occasions. Dr. Laczniaks research

focuses on the influence of competitive strategy upon

society and especially the question of marketing ethics.

He has published more than 100 scholarly articles

in outlets such as the Journal of Public Policy &

Marketing, Business Ethics Quarterly, and Long Range

Planning. Laczniak holds a PhD in marketing from the

university of wisconsin-Madison.

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