Companies often use celebrities in advertising because of the name recognition and emotions that a celebrity evokes.  Sometimes this does not always work out so well, as happened with Kellogg’s partnership with Michael Phelps earlier in 2009 after a photograph surfaced of him using a bong at a party and with McDonald’s partnership with Kobe Bryant in 2003 after he was accused of sexual assault.  These actions that celebrities/athletes become associated with are not what the brand sponsors want their brand to represent.

The latest case of this is Tiger Woods’ car crash and the series of embarrassing revelations about affairs he has carried on with other women that have been splattered all over the news since end of November.  As more of this story comes out, companies that Tiger has sponsored are ending their relationship with him, some of these including Accenture, Gillette and AT&T.

Companies like to link themselves to celebrities, hoping that the popularity and reputation a celebrity brings will resonate with the audience, helping to increase sales.  But as referenced above, this can also backfire.  Do you think it’s too risky to link your company to a celebrity?