Half of public think cynically about celebrity endorsements

Fundraising | Niki May Young | 26 Jul 2011

Celebrities who promote charities are "cynically trying to improve their own public image" according to 46 per cent of respondents to a YouGov survey released yesterday.

A slice of 2,810 British citizens were asked their opinion on whether celebrities promoting charities are "genuinely trying to use their position to do something good for others", or "cynically trying to improve their own public image". Some 46 per cent believed the latter, 36 per cent the former, and 18 per cent were either not sure or thought neither statement was true.

According to YouGov three quarters of the largest charities in the UK, excluding care and housing trusts, have a full-time employee to handle celebrity relationships.

While celebrity endorsements can reap huge rewards for charities, they can also bring unwanted negative attention. In the past Beatbullying came under fire when one of their patrons, Dappy from pop band N-Dubz, issued violent threats. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals also faced embarassment when supermodel Naomi Campbell, who was the face of a high-profile anti-fur campaign for the charity, later featured in an advertisement for a luxury New York furrier.

John Hilary, chief executive of War on Want warned: "Celebrities have a powerful voice... It is imperative that the power of that voice is directed in the right direction, that it's not taken into a different dimension which isn't helping the cause, and in fact can sometimes harm the cause that they are representing."

Directory: Beatbullying

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.