This post is part of a series on celebrity spokespeople who ended up doing serious harm to the brands they were hired to promote, or vice versa. See how we rank the 20 top spokesperson fiascos.
In 1987, Anheuser-Busch (NYSE:BUD) was featuring renown musicians such as Stevie Winwood and Phil Collins in a "The Night Belongs to Michelob" ad campaign. I'm sure the ad hacks in charge thought they'd had a stroke of genius when they conceived of using Eric "Slowhand" Clapton, performing his hit "After Midnight", as part of the series. 1 a.m., guitar god, and Michelob; seems like a natural, right?
I can't help but think that someone should have checked on Clapton's habits before launching the ad. Having fought well-publicized heroin addiction and a taste for cocaine, Clapton revealed to Rolling Stone that at the time of the ad's release he was in a detox facility. Battling alcoholism. His nights belonged to imaginary snakes rather than dirty-dancing runway models.
My suggestion? I'd steer clear of junkies as spokespersons, unless I was selling needles, smack or size 0 dresses. The image of spokespeople puking their guts out doesn't make me yearn for a beer.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-17-2008 @ 3:47PM
emturner said...
I think the article writers about Eric Clapton should include the fact that Eric has been drug and alcohol free for 20 years. Maybe not as interesting as being dropped from a beer commercial which really just cheapens the legacy anyway.
Let's face it, beer mongers care as much about alcoholism as tobacco companies care about lung cancer. It's only the celebrities that are trying to stop they want to denegrate.
7-20-2008 @ 2:32AM
Mike Sanders said...
Eric should have removed himself from consideration for this ad, but that's history... I cannot imagine that Eric Clapton will be remembered for a making a poor choice (sponsoring alcohol, a drug which he'd experienced trouble with). Rather, I believe that he will be remembered as the great guitarist, which he is.
When we think of Louis Armstrong, do we remember his pot smoking? Of course not! We remember a great man, who provided much music and happiness, to the civilized world.
Everyone's had something, which is less than perfect, in their lives... The really scary folks are the "perfect" people, who sit in judgement of others.
As the great Jim White (talk show host, for many years, at KMOX) used to say, "Save me from the "good" people!"