CASE 8.2 CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS: A BIG DEAL Alissa Hanover was bursting with excitement. She couldn't wait to tell her b

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CASE 8.2 CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENTS: A BIG DEAL Alissa Hanover was bursting with excitement. She couldn't wait to tell her boss, Annie Wu, the news that the Grammy award-winning rapper, Big Shot (aka Clarence W. Walters), had agreed to be the national spokesman for the Association for Diabetes Prevention and Research. His agent had agreed that Big Shot would appear in a series of radio and television commercials for the organization, post a video on his website that would be linked to the association's website, and give the keynote address at its major fund-raising event, the annual spring gala. New to her marketing director's job within the organization, Alissa had convinced the association to seek out a cutting-edge artist who could update the somewhat stodgy image of the organization and, ideally, effectively spread its message to young people who were most at risk for the disease: American Indians and African Americans. With Big Shot they had scored on both fronts; he was an immensely popular artist who happened to be of mixed African American and Navajo heritage and had a personal connection with the disease; several of his family members had type 2 diabetes. Securing Big Shot was a dream come true for the organization and had resulted from Alissa developing a plan with her networked board to find just the right celebrity to represent the Association. The idea to recruit Big Shot had come from Steven Muller, a board member who was married to a Hollywood agent, Rob Siegelman. Rob represented several major film stars and had met Big Shot when the artist began transitioning into movies. He knew Big Shot's agent well and was able to broker the deal for the association after several months of back-and-forth talks. Big Shot was sometimes mocked by his fellow rap artists for being a "Disney" rapper, because his lyrics were all about peace, love, family, and fellowship. He even had raps about his wife and children and was known for promoting family values. Although his messages were derided by some rap purists for being "too soft," his brand was wildly popular and made him a perfect fit with the association, which had sought an endorsement from a major star who had wholesome values. Chapter 8 Public Relations and Marketing 145
The demographic for his music was young people in their early teens and 20s, which was exactly the group the association needed to reach with their messages about prevention and monitoring. Annie, who was in her mid-50s, had, of course, heard of Big Shot but was not familiar with his music or his message. Alissa, who was in her mid-20s, was a huge Big Shot fan. She felt that securing his endorse. ment was an important achievement in her budding nonprofit marketing career. Prior to joining the association, she had worked as an associate director of marketing for the Alzheimer's Association and had jumped at the chance to prove her skills as director of marketing for a new cause she cared about so deeply her sister had type 2 diabetes). During the next 10 months, Alissa spent hours working with the associa- tion's special events manager, Lupe Rodriquez, on coordinating the logis- tics for the gala with Rob (who served as a liaison between Big Shot and the organization) and the seven major donors who composed the gala committee, including Steven Muller. The committee was chaired by Robin Levy and Marcus Samuels. Robin was a high-profile socialite: Marcus was chairman and CEO of Edelgas, a well-known multinational corporation (he was the first African American to hold that position). The committee agreed that Big Shot's video and commercials would be timed to appear right after the gala where, in an impassioned speech, he would announce his commitment to and endorsement of the organization, Rob had worked diligently to leak the news of Big Shot's involvement to other celebrities and gossip columnists to increase attendance by glitterati at the event. As a result, the event had sold out 1,200 tickets at top prices. Two days before the event, a story broke about a 15-year-old girl who claimed that she and Big Shot had been having an affair and that she was pregnant with his baby. She purported to have proof of the affair and said she had gone public because he would not admit the baby was his. Big $hot denied the allegations but looked shaken and grim in the newscast. He responded with his wife, looking teary-eyed, standing beside him, and gripping his hand tightly. Alissa and Lupe flew into a panic. Annie said grimly. "We must call an emergency meeting of the gala committee to decide what to do." That same evening, the committee convened. Annie opened the meeting by saying, "You all know why we asked you to come this evening. 146 CASES IN NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT
We need to make a decision about how to proceed with the gala and, specifically, whether we should disinvite Big Shot given the recent press coverage. If we decide to go in that direction, we must come up with a substitute keynote speaker ASAP." Rob responded. "Annie, I think you need to take a deep breath and calm down. This thing will blow over. Who knows anything about this girl? She's probably just some shyster who is trying to take Big Shots money. if we disinvite him we, will be dissing him and the enormous commitment he has made to this organization. The package of ads and videos that he has committed to us-and, let me add, has already produced and is pre- pared to release in 3 days-is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to say nothing of updating the stale image of this organization. We need to make sure we don't blow this opportunity. I've personally put in hundreds of hours of time to make this happen. If you cancel his appearance, Steven and I will back away from our involvement with the association." "Now wait a minute, Rob," said Robin. "Threats aren't going to help solve anything. We value all of the work that you've done over these many months and greatly value Steven as a board member. It's just that ... would it be right for us to have Big Shot keynote at our gala right now given all of the bad publicity that is swirling around him? My concern is that having him at the gala will jeopardize the image of the association." Annie chimed in. "Personally, I don't think it's a risk we should take." "I'm surprised at you, Annie," said Marcus. "As a person of color you should be sensitive to the fact that Black men, and in particular, successful Black men, are frequently the subject of slander and other types of unwarranted character attacks. All Black men in America face an onslaught of false judgment every day. As a case in point, my driver told me he was stopped by a cop last Tuesday as he was heading to pick me up because he made a right turn on red. The officer told him that he hadn't come to a full stop before he made the turn. It was purely a case of a Black man driving a fancy car that triggered the officer's actions. The situation is even more acute for those of us who have achieved success. Big Shot has made an enormous commitment of time, energy. resources, and good will toward our cause. Just because he's been accused of fathering this child doesn't mean that he is indeed the father.
This is simply an accusation at this point. If we alienate him by disinvit- ing him to the event, we will be throwing away all that he has done on our behalf. We are also likely to alienate the coterie of music and film stars he has attracted to our cause. I say we stand firm with Big Shot." Nodding his head at Marcus, Steven added, "I have one more point to say on this matter: If one of our American presidents, Bill Clinton, was able to admit that he had an affair while in the White House, I can't see why this allegation against BIG Shot, even if it is true, will adversely impact the association. Men have affairs all the time; it shouldn't be a deal breaker for us. He is hugely popular, and his popularity will carry the day." "But the girl is only 15," Lupe blurted out. Alissa's eyes darted back and forth to each face as the conversation became more heated. Landing Big Shot as a spokesman for the associa- tion seemed like such a sure thing. Now she wasn't so sure. Case Questions 1. Do you think the association should disinvite Big Shot to speak at the gala and cancel their agreement with him to be a spokesman for the organization? Why, or why not? 2. What could the organization have done, if anything, to protect itself this from this type of situation? 3. If the association decides to terminate its relationship with Big Shot, how should it proceed? What are the next steps that need to be accomplished within the next 48 hours? 4. What kinds of constituencies, both individual and organizations, would the organization alienate if the association severed its relationship with Big Shot? 5. Should race be a factor in making this decision?