The celebrity endorsement

August 25, 2023 by
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As I was scrolling through Twitter today, an advertisement featuring chef Gordon Ramsay appeared in my feed. Ramsey was extolling the virtues of Triscuit crackers, something the chef has been doing since February, according to AdWeek. The advertising campaign “features Ramsay as his authentic and unfiltered self and celebrates the wholesome but crunchy things in life that are full of authentic, unfiltered personality and flavor.” Of course everyone knows that Ramsay isn’t promoting Triscuits out of the goodness of his heart, he is being paid (hopefully a handsome amount). This leads me to ask the question: Does a celebrity endorsement influence your decision to buy a product?

Melofetamintscuit from Martha Stewart Living Magazine

Triscuits remind me of corrugated cardboard in both texture and taste, so Ramsay’s efforts are lost on me (this is not meant as shade on Triscuits; I’m sure they are someone’s favorite cracker, just not mine). Some people must be convinced by a celebrity chef’s endorsement, however, or Nabisco wouldn’t seek one out to create an advertising campaign. Maybe it depends on how closely aligned one is with the celebrity in question. I don’t look up to chef Ramsay in the same way as I do Jacques Pépin. Would an endorsement from him make me rethink my aversion to Triscuits? Probably not, but if there were a new product on the market that chef Pépin was touting, I could see myself giving it a try. Perhaps I am being influenced by the Triscuit ad after all, because I did take the time to comment on it and am thereby giving Nabisco free ad copy.

Because I asked the question about endorsements it would be fair to think I’m not in favor of them. Quite the opposite: I believe that anyone who can snag such a deal should do so and make bank while they can (see, e.g., Rocco DiSpirito). You never know when life will hand you lemons, so if Country Time Lemonade offers a chef an endorsement deal, he or she should probably take it. But that doesn’t mean I will buy the lemonade.

Category: Antipasto, Food Biz People

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10 Comments

  • KatieK1  on  August 25, 2023

    As a child, I would make towers of Triscuits mortared with salted butter and then somehow chomp down on the tower vertically, and I found that very satisfying. I haven’t eaten a Triscuit in years, but I’ve always liked shredded wheat as well as kataifi.

  • dmco6863  on  August 26, 2023

    As far as I’m concerned, like a certain cosmetic ad, am I worth it? More like “because you’re paid for it.” I make my own decisions.

  • cookbookaddict2020  on  August 26, 2023

    Very occasionally they get me. I bought a bottle of chocolate extract the other day because David Leibowitz wrote an article saying it was a good thing to have and use. (It has not been, at all.)

  • matag  on  August 26, 2023

    As far as I’m concerned Gordon Ramsey doesn’t know what I like. No one else knows what I like. I’ll try anything once and then decide for myself.

  • gamulholland  on  August 26, 2023

    I’m guessing that statistically, these ads probably work when you look not just at a few individuals but a population of viewers— because I’m a physician, and drug rep ads and dinners etc work on doctors/NPs/PAs if you look at their prescribing as a group. (Which is why I try to avoid drug-rep sponsored events— I want my prescribing to influenced by evidence, not ads.) Anyway, this probably applies to food ads as well— they wouldn’t pay for it if it didn’t work when you look at the big picture.

  • okmosa  on  August 26, 2023

    I’m an old fan of triscuits, but that goes back to childhood/teens/20s. Only if they have salt, not the low salt! I love the texture, the crunch (they have to be fresh and not at all stale), and usually only with a sharpish cheddar. I haven’t had them in years but now I may pick some up for old times sake. The ad worked! 😉

  • JaniceKj  on  August 26, 2023

    Celebrity endorsements work to create awareness of a product for new consumers… current consumers already will buy the product. Depending on the celebrity, I may try something new, once (after personal research). Triscuits are a regular in my pantry, everyone enjoys them. But, I usually don’t go for a product because of the endorsement, I usually will not because, after all, they are paid for that and will say whatever the creative director of production and client wants….

  • Ingridemery  on  August 27, 2023

    I would like to think that celebrity endorsements don’t impact my decisions but perhaps it is more subconscious?

    What I am actually really curious to know is whether the celebrity doing the endorsement actually likes the product themself…

  • trudys_person  on  August 27, 2023

    An ad like this wouldn’t influence me to buy a product because it inherently strikes me as fake. There is no way on god’s green earth that Gordon Ramsay would endorse Triscuits without being paid a lot of money! He would never serve them in his restaurants, would kick someone out of Hell’s Kitchen for using them, and it strikes me as unlikely that he has them for a snack at home. I think it’s quite different from cooks/chefs/influencers who I can believe actually use the stuff, and offer a suggestion or recipe for how to use it. I know they’re usually being paid something too, but I might try the product they’re schilling–if it was something I was already interested in …

  • Antonias.Kitchen  on  August 29, 2023

    If a product is celebrity endorsed I’ll likely not purchase it. A celeb endorsement is a negative in my book.

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