Celebrities in Advertising—Is the Collab Worth the Cost?

George Clooney and Nespresso. Dawn French and M&S. Jennifer Aniston and Aveeno. Celebrity partnerships and endorsements have been a long-standing pillar of advertising. Why? For starters, seeing a famous face next to a brand connects the love and trust we feel for that celebrity to the product he or she is endorsing. Whether it’s a campaign that enhanced our perception of the brand or one that flopped in the public eye, we can all recall a celebrity endorsement that has stuck with us, for better or worse.
Celebs—should you hire them or fire them?
A hired device is defined by System1’s Chief Innovation Officer, Orlando Wood, in his book, Lemon, as “a character hired by the brand and used as the primary vehicle for the drama in more than one ad across a campaign.” As opposed to brands who invest in an original and brand ownable character (e.g., the GEICO Gecko), brands using hired devices draw on consumers’ existing knowledge of a famous person’s personality and/ or work to imbue their brand with emotion and credibility. With long-term, consistent use across communications, they can become instantaneous brand cues and serve as an anchor for the brand in a consumer’s memory. This is important as celebrity endorsements can alert consumers to brand messaging, which can make the product they endorse top-of-mind when it’s time to make a purchase. The key difference between a fluent device and a hired device is that brands own and control their fluent devices, but hired devices are a brand in their own right.
Between the global holiday marketing push and Super Bowl advertising in the United States, US audiences are inundated with high-budget ads featuring famous faces and cultural callbacks clamoring for their attention. In fact, during the 2024 Super Bowl, a whopping 49% of the ads featured a celebrity. And regardless of whether that celebrity was an actor, athlete, or singer, these ads averaged at 2.8 Stars on System1’s Star Rating (out of a maximum 5.9 Stars), which measures long-term brand growth potential and sits slightly above the US average for all advertising that year, 2.4.
During the 2024 Super Bowl, Spike Rating—System1’s measure for short-term activation and sales potential—was strong when ads featured a celebrity. Dunkin topped the Spike charts and achieved the highest emotional intensity score with their Bennifer campaign featuring additional stars such as Tom Brady and Matt Damon. The short-term potential of celebrity advertising isn’t all that surprising. In fact, Orlando Wood notes in Lemon and Look out, that celebrities have greater short-term impact than brand-owned characters on average and System1’s research with UK broadcaster ITV further confirms this. Spike Rating factors in emotional intensity as well as the speed and accuracy of branding– familiar celebrities, whether loved or not, evoke a pre-existing emotional response from audiences, naturally amplifying the intensity of emotions in an ad.

So how much does a celebrity cameo cost, and is it worth it? A small appearance by a relative unknown might come in at around $25,000, while Dunkin’ reportedly, shelled out $10 million just for Ben Affleck when creating the Bennifer spot. However, the world didn’t have to wait long before System1’s Spike prediction took hold. A source told CNN “[Dunkin’] sold more donuts the next day than any other day in their history.”
Therefore, while brand-owned characters drive more effective long-term gains, celebrities have an advantage in building trust and emotional intensity, providing better short-term gains. Knowing this, whether the investment is worthwhile depends on a brand’s strategy: If the spot is intended to drive immediate consumer action, then a famous face can be remarkably effective.
Of course, there are numerous examples of celebrity ad campaigns that led to ongoing partnerships between the star and brand, leading to exceptional long-term success in addition to immediate sales growth.

While the excitement of seeing a celebrity in an ad may drive short-term sales, brand-owned characters win in the long-term. Source: System1 Group Analysis of all IPA long-term campaigns since 1998
Using a few examples from System 1’s database of tested ads, let’s break down what brands get right when featuring hired devices and how they can maximize their investment in star power for both short- and long-term gains.
Do what you’re known for: Lionel Messi and Michelob ULTRA
One of the highest-scoring ads during last year’s Super Bowl features football of another kind – soccer in US speak. On a sun-soaked beach, Lionel Messi steps up to the bar to order a Michelob ULTRA, but while he’s waiting for his beer, someone kicks a football his way, and a lively, casual game ensues, until the bartender summons him with a whistle: “Mr. Messi. Your beer!”
Messi, like all stars, is captivating when in his element, and this ad by agency Wieden & Kennedy New York fully embraces Messi’s status as a football star, brilliantly weaving it into a story that just happens to begin and end with Michelob beer. This is also key to its success – from the outset, the brand makes it clear that this is a Michelob ad featuring Messi, not an ad for Messi drinking Michelob.
Although we often see testimonial-style ads featuring celebrities telling us to “use this–I love it, so you’ll love it, too”, this kind of direct-to-camera delivery often falls flat. Testimonial-style ads achieve far fewer business effects than ads with no testimonial, even without the celebrity present. Michelob’s use of storytelling over testimonial speaks volumes – only Michelob ULTRA is worth waiting for. Michelob are selling to audiences through storytelling while rewarding viewers with the opportunity to see Messi doing what they know and love him for. Advertising that doesn’t feel like advertising scores brand-building goals.

How celebrities are not in themselves sufficient (left). They can be used to great effect if playing a character or role, however. A separate analysis (right) reveals how ineffective a to-camera testimonial approach tends to be. Source: IPA Databank (2012-2020)
Integrate the celebrity into the brand’s story: Michale Cera and CeraVe
CeraVe said what we were all thinking with their 2024 Super Bowl spot featuring comedic actor Michael Cera claiming to be the creator of the moisturizer. Cera’s off-beat style of humor shines in the mock-testimonial from his opening line “I’m Michael Cera, and human skin is my passion”, as he gives massages and moisturizes a mountain, all while touting the cream’s benefits, such as “three essential ceramides” in a sensual voice. The absurdity drives amusement throughout the spot, which topped off with a dose of relief when the ending assures us that the cream is “developed with dermatologists, not Michael Cera.”
Although Michael Cera might be the last person we expect to see doing a skincare testimonial, sharing a name with the brand makes him a natural choice for the partnership. The story doesn’t feel overly contrived, and no one needs to wonder why he’s appearing in the commercial. As Cera says in his pitch to the board “it’s the perfect crossover opportunity.”
This strong brand connection gave the ad exceptional short-term sales potential with a 1.32 Spike Rating driven primarily by 93% brand recognition. The inherent connection between the celebrity and brand makes the brand easier for consumers to remember and therefore buy from.
While celebrities alone aren’t enough to guarantee an ad’s success, by crafting a story showcasing their unique talents and drawing on opportunities for organic brand linkage, brands can make the most of their investment and use a little star power to make their brand shine.
Create With Confidence
Want to find out how your brand’s star-power translates into star score? System1’s Test Your Ad can reveal your ad’s brand-building and activation potential, as well as brand attribution, in as little as 24 hours, at any creative stage. We also offer Guidance so you can identify areas of improvement and Create with Confidence, always.
If your brand is considering a celebrity collaboration, our Test Your Innovation platform can help you gauge its potential commercial success, as well as new products, packaging, taglines and more.
Will celebrities dominate the Super Bowl LIX? Find out in our exclusive webinar, where we’ll unveil the top performing Super Bowl ads and why they resonated with consumers!