Celebrity endorsements, hard to read.
Not long ago, female star Jing Tiangang was criticized by the central media for illegal endorsements and was fined 7.2212 million.
Then at the end of July and the beginning of August, the old drama bone Hu Jun was "scolded" on the hot search, and also "endorsed the collapse of the house".
Because of the thunderstorm of a wealth management platform endorsed, it affected 340,000 investors, with a total amount of about 39 billion.
There is even speculation that Hu Jun of the 36th Hundred Flowers Awards has not even been nominated, or it is related to this incident.
Since the late 1980s, Li Moran took over China's first celebrity endorsement advertisement.
The controversy over celebrity endorsement has not been broken, and many endorsements have overturned, and they have also triggered an uproar that has shaken the whole society.
New China's first star commercial advertisement "Sanjiu Stomach Tai", Li Moran was controversial that year
How did these "tragedies" come about, and why did some illegal endorsements continue to be banned?
Let's go back and forth 4 star endorsement incidents that have a bad impact.
See if you can find the answer from it:
The "National Actress" endorsement advertisement has aroused national attention
In 1957, Deng Jie was born in Chongqing to a Sichuan opera family.
Hua Dan, who became a Sichuan opera school in Sichuan Province at the age of 17, became famous throughout the country for starring in Wang Xifeng in "Dream of the Red Chamber" at the age of 27.
Stills from Deng Jie's "Dream of the Red Chamber"
Her acting career with her husband Zhang Guoli started in Sichuan and Chongqing, and began in Beijing.
But Deng Jie did not expect that in 2008, she would be sued by her Chongqing compatriots.
The incident originated from the "poisoned milk powder incident" that shocked the whole country that year.
At the end of 2008, Sanlu milk powder was involved in the detection of melamine in 69 batches of products from 22 manufacturers across the country, resulting in a total of 294,000 children with urinary system abnormalities.
Deng Jie is the former spokesperson of Sanlu Milk Powder.
In the same year, a 75-year-old old woman surnamed Huang in Chongqing developed abdominal pain and diarrhea after eating Sanlu milk powder.
Enraged, she sued Sanlu Group and Deng Jie in court.
Deng Jie not only did not appear in court, but also published the "three no's principle" that caused great controversy at that time through her agent:
No selfishness, no apology, no refund.
Deng Jiefang believes that his endorsement is not at fault, so he will not settle in court, nor apologize, nor will he refund the endorsement income.
You must know that at that time, the poisoned milk powder caused a cry of mourning and anger in the society.
Deng Jie's indifferent "three noes" statement has attracted overwhelming accusations.
So far, when I searched the Internet, people still remember that the account of nearly 300,000 infants and young children who were harmed by the poisoned milk powder pit was still calculated to Deng Jie's head.
But after many years of events, sometimes the truth has long since become plausible in word of mouth.
In fact, Mrs. Huang, who sued Deng Jie that year, only purchased Sanlu elderly milk powder, not infant milk powder endorsed by Deng Jie.
Deng Jie as the spokesperson of Sanlu was in 2003, and the two sides only signed a half-year contract.
At the time of the melamine outbreak in 2008, she was no longer the brand's spokesperson.
Therefore, in court, Deng Jie resolutely rejected the other party's appeal, and the final lawsuit, Mrs. Huang, could not win.
However, as the former spokesperson of Sanlu infant milk powder, is Deng Jie really not a little faulty about the tragedy a few years later?
Let's look at the advertising at that time.
In the advertisement, Deng Jie confidently said advertising words such as "professional production, quality assurance, reassurance, and I trust".
As we all know, Deng Jie and Zhang Guoli did not have children between husband and wife.
According to public information, they only adopted a one-year-old girl in 2005.
Therefore, Deng Jie's endorsement of the advertisement, in the mother's tone of firmly describing the quality and efficacy of milk powder, may not be true.
In addition, when Deng Jie endorsed Sanlu milk powder, it happened to be popular again in the country with the "Kangxi Micro Service Private Interview" series, with super high popularity.
Such "national attributes" give its advertising words a great appeal and dissemination effect.
"Kangxi Micro Service Private Interview"
In the public information of the "China Dairy Pollution Incident".
Less than a year after Deng Jie endorsed Sanlu milk powder, in a certain accident of inferior milk powder in Fuyang in 2004, a number of unqualified milk powder enterprises and fake and shoddy milk powder were announced, and Sanlu was impressively listed.
It is not difficult to see that the reason why Deng Jie has been held by netizens for many years.
First, when she fought that lawsuit, her attitude was a little less empathetic, and it was difficult to be recognized by the public.
Second, as the spokesperson of the brand side, Deng Jie, lacking sufficient awareness of the product, also openly praised her as a mother, which is difficult to accept.
Deng Jie almost disappeared for 3 years after the incident in 2008, and there was no high-profile appearance.
Some people may ask, do celebrity endorsements really not do trials, or even do not understand the product?
Come, then read the story of the star below, you will know.
Sons of literary and artistic families, "mass production" false advertising?
When we describe some old artists, we often use words like virtue and art shuangxin.
But since there is Li Jindou, who sells fake bracelets, and the kneeling "Panzi".
It seems that the word should also be considered appropriately.
Especially after reading the story of "Second Master Hou".
As the second son of the famous cross-talk performance artist Master Hou Baolin, Hou Yaowen's brother-in-law, Guo Degang's "uncle".
Hou Yaohua is in the cross-talk circle and has a very high generation.
In the early years, with the fire of "The Story of the Editorial Department", he was a well-known comedy star in the country.
Similarly, in China's "false advertising endorsement circle", he is also well-known throughout the country.
In 2009, Hou Yaohua appeared on CCTV news for false advertising.
Although the social losses caused by products are not as good as those "big events", they can't stand the large number of people.
He was angrily criticized by CCTV for endorsing as many as 10 false advertisements.
And basically target the health food, drugs, medical devices and so on used by middle-aged and elderly people.
What is even more exaggerated is that after the incident was exposed.
Teacher Hou was interviewed by reporters and said bluntly that he did not know what the efficacy of the endorsed products was.
Taking health care products as an example, he said that he did not have that disease, how could he try that medicine.
And the conversation turned sharply, but also clarified for themselves, saying that it is not that the manufacturer did not ask the manufacturer to confirm the product.
It's just that the manufacturer told him that the thing has not yet been produced.
It is really "embarrassing" Teacher Hou, there is nothing, and he dares to speak for him.
The incident of Hou Yaohua endorsing ten false advertisements set off a wide range of discussions in the society that year, triggering a wave of climax in the reflection of the Chinese people on celebrity endorsements.
The story isn't over yet, though.
Fast forward to 2015.
Hou Yaohua "made a comeback", this time planted in the hands of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
Among the top ten typical cases of suspected violations of the Advertising Law released by the General Administration of the People's Republic of China.
He was in the list again.
The silk prints produced by a handicraft factory in Zhejiang have blown out the taste of famous painting collections, and many consumers have "generously donated" because of this.
"Come out and mix, sooner or later you have to pay it back."
Today's Hou Yaohua has almost become an advertising black hole, and almost no brand dares to rush to him for endorsement.
More than ten years of word of mouth, eventually ruined by fake advertising, can never go back.
International Film Emperor and "1.68 Billion Cases"
In 2007, an institution made an "Annual Artist Public Image Satisfaction" questionnaire to rank 500 stars in the entertainment industry at that time.
As a result, Uncle Ge, who has always been an "old and good man", unexpectedly appeared in the list of dozens of people.
What exactly was the public dissatisfied with Ge You that year?
From an advertisement:
Ge You sat in front of a green forest, with eight big characters next to him: Afforestation, the first choice is Yilin.
What do you mean?
On the surface, it is reforestation.
Behind it was a company called Yilin Group, "rubbing" the "east wind" of the country's call for afforestation that year.
Pay for afforestation in various places and sell the planted trees to investors.
The return promise is that an acre of forest land is invested 2600 yuan, and after 7 years, the net profit is about 8000 yuan.
More than.
The company also offers a guaranteed monthly salary to encourage investors to continue to buy of the downline, and selling 150 acres of land can promote the company's manager and participate in the huge commission.
Is there something out of the product?
Some investors, after smashing hundreds of thousands of dollars into it and visiting the so-called woodlands, were surprised to find that it was all barren mountains.
In 2007, the company was characterized by the public security organs as a "pyramid scheme."
As many as 22,000 victims, mainly retired middle-aged and elderly people, involving an amount of 1.68 billion.
Its spokesperson Ge You was thus pushed to the cusp of the storm, not only criticized, but even the payment for endorsement was recovered by the police.
Some lawyers said that Ge You may have violated the criminal law.
Faced with overwhelming pressure from public opinion, Ge You responded with silence.
It was not until a year later, when he was interviewed by the media, that he expressed his "grievances":
"The whole time I didn't think it was my fault.
At that time, there were a lot of endorsement proofs to show me, and I only took over the commercial.
(MLM) This has nothing to do with me personally."
Although the negative impact of the incident on Ge You is now negligible.
But he also admitted that he was getting more and more afraid of taking ads.
"Some time ago I took an advertisement for wine and an instant noodle, which I tried myself before.
I asked for a box of instant noodles and ate it every day."
Pick up ads for a while.
But the pain of regurgitation may not be the weight that stars can bear.
Let's look at the following story.
Famous host, "pretending to be confused with understanding"?
In September 2021, a group of "T-shirt people" stood at the door of Hunan Radio, Film and Television Group Co., Ltd.
Behind him was a sign of "Morally Lost Artist", and he shouted emotionally:
"Li Weijia, cheat me about my hard-earned money!".
As the host of China's most famous entertainment variety show "Happy Base Camp", Li Weijia was not only one of the three giants of Kuaiben together with He Jiong and Li Xiang.
Nowadays, he is also an important member of the "Happy Family" that has been IP-based.
National popularity speaks for itself.
But why are people labeled as "unscrupulous artists"?
Originating from a milk tea brand endorsed by him, the parent company ran away with the rolls, and a large number of franchisees suffered heavy losses and lost all their money.
In the face of condemnation, Li Weijia quickly issued a statement.
Disappointingly, he announced that his "Brand Ambassador" contract ended in August 2021.
The implication is that when you defended your rights in September, I was already a "former spokesperson".
It also emphasized the right to accountability for false statements that denigrated him.
But in fact, it is difficult for Li Weijia to clear his relationship.
First, the brand is called "Happy Equation," which is too easy to associate with Vigne Lee and Happy Camp.
Secondly, in the promotion video, Li Weijia also bluntly called the brand a popular IP pie camp tea drink in happy base camp.
This highly correlated hint misleads many investors.
And Li Weijia's promotional video does not seem to be aimed at ordinary consumers, but calls on franchisees to "get rich happily".
Coupled with the endorsement contract that was terminated "just" a month before the rights protection was issued.
With all this, it is difficult not to let public opinion speculate.
Li Weijia also faded out in front of the screen because of this incident, and the follow-up impact is unknown.
In fact, through the above four stories, we find that the problem of celebrity endorsement mainly comes from the lack of responsibility.
First, seriously do not understand the product, "against the heart" endorsement.
The second is to vigorously endorse and stand on the platform during propaganda, and rush to clear up the relationship after the accident.
For example, this time Hu Jun's endorsement overturned, but also clearly expressed his "former spokesperson" identity.
Therefore, central media, including Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Network and other central media, have issued appeals that stars should not be allowed to overturn the endorsement and skim off.
How exactly should we view the issue of celebrity endorsements?
On the one hand, as a reasonable part of the market economy, we should not demonize it.
The use of celebrity endorsement is a mutual achievement, such as the unknown Metersbonwe, which relied on Jay Chou's advertising to sweep the country and become a good story.
On the other hand, we must also learn to treat celebrity endorsements rationally and polish our eyes.
Whether the product quality is good or not, it cannot all depend on the mouth of the star in the advertisement.
Especially in advertising involving franchise investment, it is even more necessary to do a good job of pre-due diligence.
As for those celebrities who endorse overturned, or even illegal endorsements, how should they be held accountable?
This also requires our society to think carefully from top to bottom and come up with rational and effective countermeasures.
If you have any suggestions for this, please feel free to write it in the comments section.
Text/Van Silli
(Image from network infringement deleted)