Feel Good


Celebrities: The Junk Food Pushers

Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears among celebs making millions off endorsements of soda, fast food

BY June 9, 2016

 

Imagine Beyonce endorsing carrot juice instead of Pepsi. Yeah, kind of difficult. And, from her perspective, nowhere near as lucrative.

A new study in Pediatrics found that the majority of money celebrities made off of food and drink endorsements came from junk food—soft drinks, fast food chains, candy. Food and beverages were the second most popular things celebs endorsed (behind beauty products). Justin Timberlake, for example, got big bucks from McDonald’s and Pepsi. Beyonce got around $50 million for an endorsement with Pepsi, too.

It’s hard to tell quite what effect endorsements have on purchasing. But one of the study’s author’s did make an interesting point to NPR:

"When Dr. Pepper asked Pitbull to endorse, they got 4.6 million advertising impressions, and sales went up 1.7 percent [among Latinos]—despite declining sales in the overall soft drink category."

 

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