NEW SCRUTINY

If the launch has angered many in her loyal fanbase, then who is it really for? And is this kind of scrutiny new? Are information hungry and cash poor(er) consumers just becoming more scrupulous when it comes to which celeb products they’re okay with backing and which they aren’t?

This isn’t the first instance we’ve heard of in the past few years. Actor Michael B Jordan was forced to ‘rename’ his Caribbean rum, J’ouvert in 2021, after angry consumers called him out for taking a name from an annual Caribbean cultural event rooted in slavery, that he has no connection to. As far as we can tell, no renamed product has since emerged.

And Kendall Jenner announced a number of charitable efforts after her launch of 818 tequila was criticised for being ‘problematic’. Accused of appropriating Mexican culture and failing to properly credit local producers, she’s since made a feature of the liquid’s production in her marketing. The controversy largely centred on a photo campaign of the socialite walking a horse through an agave plantation, while appearing to be ‘dressed up’ as a Mexican woman, with some of the harshest comments including: “Modelling that chic migrant worker look for her tequila brand.” Since the criticism, she has announced numerous charitable initiatives to “give back” to the community that produces her brand, including turning agave waste into building bricks, donating 1% of revenues to eco causes. That’ll do it.

HAS THE SHINE WORN OFF?

David Beckham too is making moves. The retired footballer announced in March that he was ending his Haig Club partnership after almost a decade. The partnership will come to an end this summer, so he can pursue his own drinks brand launch, which suggests the star feels there’s something out there that will be a better fit for him.

So, has something shifted? Are consumers demanding more? Is ‘celeb-washing’ a term we can expect to hear about soon? Consumers are not demanding deep connections from celebs to the brands that they launch; step forward Prime Hydration. But what seems new is that they are calling out celebs whose connections to their brands seems hollow, hypocritical, blatantly selfserving, not aligned to their values or lifestyle, or at worst, culturally disrespectful. Any celeb that launches a brand that goes against previous stances or points of view can expect to hear from their fans.

While it seems that people are happy to buy into a brand based on the associated glory of the stars they admire, when they’re being sold something that seems blatantly hollow, there’s a problem. Greater scrutiny into the provenance, brand story, ingredients, production methods and eco-claims of products is becoming par for the course among a growing number of increasingly switched-on consumers, and brands need to be ready for it. Having a celeb attached to a brand is no longer enough.

From investing in producing communities –especially if they are in economically challenged regions – to showcasing the people actually producing the liquid, consumers are increasingly looking for greater depth from brands, beyond a celebrity name. And while they’ll be no slow down to the number of famous folk looking to attach their names to a perceived cash cow drinks product, from now on, those that do had better do their homework.