Seeing Stars

Suppose you’ve got a beverage to sell that’s nutritious but not trendy.

Or you’re trying to tell the world about a devastating disease, hoping to raise awareness--and millions in research funds to find a cure.

Quick! Find a celebrity spokesperson. Then sit back and watch those profits or contributions roll in.

How about pop singer Amy Grant?

Sorry--she was last seen with milk on her upper lip, one of the latest stars in the “Where’s your mustache?” campaign of the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board.

Shelley Fabares? Tied up with the Alzheimer’s Assn.

Jane Wyman? Busy with the Arthritis Foundation.

Pierce Brosnan? Spoken for as a women’s health advocate.

Betty White? Pushing a senior HMO to other golden girls and boys.

Snagging a celebrity to promote a cause or product--be it the environment, politics, animal rights or life insurance--is nothing new. But health-related causes and products are taking center stage, thanks to a burgeoning consumer interest in health, a graying population more vulnerable to illness, and an explosion in the number of health-related organizations.

“Over the last three or four years, health-related causes, along with child-related causes--which are often health-related, too--have become No. 1 in terms of donor interest and overall need,” says Lisa Paulsen, president and CEO of the Entertainment Industry Foundation in Studio City. A philanthropic arm of the entertainment industry, the foundation raises money for hundreds of charities and links celebrities with causes.

The growing popularity of stars as spokespersons for health causes or products can be explained in two words, says Amy Heinemann, assistant director of marketing for the International Dairy Foods Assn., which administers the milk mustache campaign: Celebrities sell.

Since the milk campaign began in 1995, sales of milk are up, Heinemann says, and she credits her campaign, along with the “Got Milk?” promotions. A U.S. Department of Agriculture representative confirms that 1996 milk sales were up 1.1% over 1995. That translates, Heinemann says, into $220 million in additional sales for milk processors.

Celebrities who promote a health-related cause can raise big bucks. “The Jane Wyman Humanitarian Dinner this year grossed about $335,000,” says Jeannie Whited, Los Angeles spokeswoman for the Arthritis Foundation. The actress, who does not accept a fee, has been helping the foundation for 31 years.

“It’s no accident that Alzheimer’s disease [researchers] received 65% more in research funds” for fiscal year 1991, after Fabares testified before a joint subcommittee on aging, says Peter Braun, executive director of the Los Angeles Alzheimer’s Assn.

“Celebrities can make a huge difference,” agrees Paulsen of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. Pierce Brosnan, in his work for the National Women’s Cancer Research Alliance, one of the foundation’s projects, has raised $12 million in the last five years, she estimates.

Sharon Stone is serving as chairwoman of the campaign for AIDS research for AmFAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research), a New York-based organization devoted to funding research. “Her objective is to raise $76 million by World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, 1998,” says Jay Blotcher, an AmFAR spokesman. “She’s doing well,” he says, although he declined to provide figures.

Stars who show up for fund-raisers or to host telethons can also have a domino effect. “They will usually be able to talk one or two of their buds into coming,” says Rene Wedel, a Los Angeles actress and broadcaster who volunteers for the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

Some causes become so hip that celebrities seek them out. Heinemann says she often gets calls from agents or managers. AIDS and breast cancer causes are so popular, complains a public relations representative for an unrelated organization, that it’s sometimes difficult to find a well-known celebrity to take on other causes.

That’s especially true if the disease is little known. Such is the case for Sjogren’s syndrome, says Rhoda Dennison, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Sjogren’s Syndrome Foundation. The autoimmune disease is marked by dry eyes and mouth and overwhelming fatigue. “If we had a nationally known celebrity, at least people would pay attention,” says Dennison, “but we can’t even find out who [in Hollywood] has the disease.”

Some celebrities shy away from serving as spokespersons for certain diseases, fearing their association may stigmatize them and lead to fewer offers of work. One older actor didn’t mind that people knew he had prostate enlargement, an acquaintance recalled, but didn’t want anyone to think he had prostate cancer.

But fewer and fewer diseases seem to carry stigmas these days, says Danielle Guttman, vice president of the Entertainment Industry Foundation. In fact, she now considers prostate cancer a hip cause.

Not that using a celebrity spokesperson is foolproof. First there’s the fickle factor. Will a star still be a star next season? Even worse is the nail-biting possibility that today’s squeaky-clean, health-conscious celebrity could be busted on drug- or alcohol-abuse or spouse-beating charges tomorrow.

“It’s tough,” says Whited of the Arthritis Foundation. “The microscope is so much stronger these days. It’s almost like people are looking [for flaws].”

For a celebrity, picking the right cause “is as important as picking the right agent,” says Barry Greenberg, owner of Celebrity Connection, which matches celebrities to charities. “It helps them get booked on talk shows and to get them into magazine articles.”

But whether or not the cause or the product is well-known, the credibility of a spokesperson is crucial, says Dominique Hanssens, a professor of marketing at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management.

Braun, of the Alzheimer’s Assn., agrees. “The celebrity has to know and understand the mission of the association.” When Fabares spoke at a conference, she told participants about taking care of her mother, who suffered from the disease, and “about the pure isolation and terror she and her sister lived through.”

Wyman recalls why she began volunteering for the Arthritis Foundation.

“A girlfriend of mine had rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. She encouraged me, she pushed me.”

It’s been a dozen years since Cybill Shepherd, hired by the beef industry to promote their product, was quoted (or misquoted) in a magazine article saying she was cutting back on red meat. But some marketers have long memories.

“You have to be a milk drinker,” says Heinemann of potential participants in her campaign. “We don’t sit there and force-feed them milk or anything, but we do verify. Non-milk drinkers need not apply.”

Success hinges on a “good fit” between spokesperson and product or cause, says UCLA’s Hanssens. “Clearly, the celebrity has a high recognition factor.” So at the very least, the public remembers the star. “That’s the easy part.”

But do they remember the product or cause?

In his book “Ogilvy on Advertising” (Random, 1985), adman David Ogilvy notes that “Testimonials from celebrities get high scores, but I have stopped using them because readers remember the celebrity and forget the product.”

Not always, Hanssens says. “That seems to depend on whether or not there is in the consumer’s mind a connection between the celebrity and the cause or product,” he says.

Michael Jordan and basketball shoes? A perfect fit. Jordan and computers? Nope.

In the best-case scenario, stars can boost the image of causes and products. That’s happened with milk, Hanssens says. “They are trying to shift attitudes, to make milk a grown-up drink.”

The campaign has also corrected health-related misconceptions, Heinemann says: “The biggest are that all milk is high in fat and that adults don’t need milk.”

Stars like Fabares have also helped to bring Alzheimer’s disease more out into the open, to make it less uncomfortable for family to talk about it, Braun says.

In an analysis published in 1992 in the Journal of School Health, researchers say celebrities can “play multiple roles as spokespersons for health issues, including advocate, educator, social change agent and fund-raiser.” But there are pitfalls. For instance, a celebrity endorsement advertisement often contains less product information than other types.

And some say America is outgrowing its fascination with star power. Only 3% of respondents said a celebrity recommendation would persuade them to buy any kind of product, according to a 1995 survey by Yankelovich Partners.

Don’t bother telling Heinemann, who’s busy looking for milk drinker No. 57. “We’re getting the message through,” she says. “We’re in a ‘don’t-mess-with-success’ scenario.”

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Researcher Scott Wilson of The Times’ library contributed to this story.