Steal These Ideas!: Marketing Secrets That Will Make You a Star, 2nd Edition

But What if My Spokesperson Does Something Really Bad?

I mentioned O. J. Simpson and Tiger Woods earlier. The O. J. situation is more instructive since he was so closely identified with Hertz for so long. For many years he was a very strong and likeable personality as Hertz's worldwide spokesperson and did his part to help them remain number one in the car rental industry. Then the murders and the trial. What happened? Hertz acted swiftly and immediately canceled O. J. and all promotional traces of him. Guess what. No harm done at all, other than the loss of a sterling personality. So don't be afraid to use people just because there is a risk of their image becoming tarnished at some future date. If trouble happens, just move on. Consumers will, ...