PRODUCT BRANDING AND CELEBRITIES: FRAGILE ADVERTISING OR LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE?

Christopher Johnson, CEO of Whitehorn Group, weighs the pros and cons of big name endorsementsNew York, NY. May 23, 2013--The news goes like this for two high profile and potentially rewarding arrangements: Lil Wayne, the famous rapper, had signed a multi-million dollar endorsement with Mountain Dew, part of PepsiCo. Another sponsorship was established between Reebok and rapper Rick Ross. Recently, Wayne performed vulgar lyrics on Emmett Till, “the African-American teenager whose 1955 torture and murder in Mississippi for supposedly whistling at a white woman helped foment the civil