I recently read an interesting post on Behind the Seams of PR. This post discusses how Mariah Carey fans can be Luscious Pink” designers, as highlighted by Mariah Carey’s new perfume and the contest tied into it.
The new fragrance is called Luscious Pink. In a contest titled, Design a Luscious Pink Dress for Mariah Carey, aspiring fashion designers have the chance to design a dress that reflects the feminine, sparkling, magical and sensual fragrance. Mariah will pick the top design and three dresses will be made. One for the designer, one for Mariah and one to be auctioned to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
From Hunger to Hope
In addition to helping support breast cancer, Mariah Carey also fights hunger. The From Hunger to Hope campaign is a partnership with Yum! brands, and the United Nations World Food Programme. The campaign’s objectives are to raise awareness, volunteerism and funds to end world hunger. There are campaign ads on TV, in print and on the Internet.
Mariah Carey’s part
Mariah Carey was named the campaign’s Hunger Ambassador. Here is a picture of the poster featuring Mariah. It is hung in about 36,000 YUM! stores including: 
- KFC
- Pizza Hut
- Taco Bell
- Long John Silver’s
- and A&W restaurants
Customers who donate to Hunger to Hope will receive a free download of “Love Story,” a song from her latest album E=MC2.
To reach some of her younger fans, Mariah has also included a From Hunger to Hope widget on her Facebook page.
Stats on World Hunger
- One billion people world-wide are faced with hunger and malnutrition
- Every six seconds, a child dies from world hunger
- Hunger kills more people than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined
My Take
I think celebrity endorsements are a great way to create awareness about a cause or an organization. What is your take on celebrity endorsements? Do you think they are effective? What cause or issue have you learned about from an endorsement?
In the case of From Hunger to Hope, I believe Mariah was simply an endorsement. I did some research on this topic and I couldn’t find anything that showed that World Hunger was something Mariah really supported.
Not to say that she isn’t concerned about the issue, I just don’t think she has a passion for it. Take Tyra Banks for example ( I wrote a post on her), she is truly passionate about empowering women. If you’ve ever watched her talk show or America’s Next Top Model, or read a magazine interview from her, you can see that is truly her passion.
Visit some of the links I provided in this site and tell me if you think Mariah is passionate about world hunger.
And as far as celebrity endorsements go, we’ll talk more about that in next week’s post.
November 23, 2008 at 11:04 pm
I found this blog Celebrity Endorsements to be interesting. Since celebrity endorsements have become so common, I did not realize actually how many companies use celebrities to promote their products. I do believe that a certain celebrity can make a big wave in the sales of a product. In today’s society people look to celebrities for how they should dress, eat, and well about just about their whole demeanor.
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is a perfect example of what celebrity endorsements can do. He was backed by several celebrities such as Opera, Ben Affleck, and Ellen DeGeneres. Other Obama supporting celeb’s showed their support by wearing Obama apparel and appearing at his rallies. So when their picture is shown in US Weekly, People magazine, or on E! we see their support for him. I do believe that the celebrity buzz around Obama did help gain support of others.
With everything good in life comes a downside. Choosing the right celebrity is difficult thing to do. You need to find someone who can promote the values and ideas of the product by their past, present, future actions. However it is hard to predict what one will do during the promotion and even after. One a celebrity endorses a product they are tied to the product for a while even after their endorsements are over. The incidents with Michael Vick for Nike were on the more severe side of how an endorsement can go wrong. Another one that sticks in my head is Kate Moss for Chanel and Burberry. They both dropped her after photographs surfaced of her snorting cocaine.
Celebrity endorsements can have a powerful influence on people, but it is not always for the best. With every big reward you take an even bigger risk.
November 25, 2008 at 4:04 am
I have noticed over that past couple of years just how much celebrity endorsement really effects society. I agree with Kendra about the mixed feelings that can come with celebrity endorsement. After all, everything I have learned in PR class has taught me that to promote a product or company you want to make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. You want to research it inside and out. I got the vibe that Mariah Carey wanted to be seen as a caring person and truly a role model. When teenagers see this kind of endorsement they will look to her for almost everything. In addition, parents may be very impressed with these endorsements as well. However, I cannot help but to wonder if one were to actually sit down and question Mariah Carey about specifics for the Hunger to Hope organization, if she would be completely into everything they have to offer if it did not include promotion for herself. I understand celebrities have busy lives and are trying to get involved with the community in any way possible, but sometimes it is done for the wrong reasons. One thing that comes to mind is when celebrities will visit struggling countries and promote tv ads asking people to help them and ask for donations. I mean I support these organizations, but what some of the celebrities and whatnot do after they are done shooting their video feed. It makes me wonder how much they really care. Now, I do not mean to completely diss this topic at all. Some celebrities like U2 have sincerely done a lot to contribute to foundations and organizations. Also, organizations should keep in mind what type of celebrity they really want representing them. If it were a celebrity who has questionable status to the public, this really would not help the organization. It would really just help to boost the celebrities’ status. If Mariah Carey is sincere about this endorsement, then I am sure she will do much more with them in the future rather than a onetime project.
It would be interesting to see how people from Hunger to Hope respond about the endorsement; after all they will have more information and first experience than anyone.
I believe celebrity endorsement is a great thing, but it can go wrong if it is done for the wrong reasons.