Prophet or Pitchman

If you’re going to be a spokesperson for an organization, you better not do something stupid that will embarrass the company.

With the, ahem, "Big Game" coming up next Sunday, folks will be huddled around their televisions to watch the commercials as much as the action on the field. Advertisers will spend millions of dollars to attract our eyeballs and get us to open our wallets to buy their products. Many of the ads will be creative and memorable, and more than a few will also feature a celebrity or familiar representative to help push merchandise.

Some of these celebrity "pitch" people get connected to companies and products over a long period of time. Who can forget when William Shatner hung up his Captain Kirk uniform and started hawking for Priceline.com or, if you're of a certain age, when retired slugger Joe DiMaggio moonlighted as Mr. Coffee? Brooke Shields rocked Calvin Klein jeans and Michael Jordan donned his Hanes underwear. They become so connected that we remember them years after the products have gone into retail obscurity. Those celebrity faces added authenticity to a product, at least on the ...