The Dangers of Celebrity Endorsements

Few advertisers will ever hire a celebrity to endorse their products, which is probably why stories such as this one are so much fun for the rest of us.

Australian clothing designer David Jones paid young celeb Mischa Barton $100,000 to wear one of his designs and attend the launch of his summer collection in order to lend to it some of her flavor-of-the-month star power.

At the show's press conference, Ms. Barton did manage to go on about how much she loved Australian fashion. But when asked which designer's clothes she was wearing, SHE HAD NO IDEA!

Mischa Barton: Huh?

To be fair, Ms. Barton is far from the first self-absorbed celebrity to take an advertiser's money and fail to deliver.

About a decade ago, actress Cybill Sheppard was paid to promote beef by the Beef Council. Soon after her endorsement ads began running, she told a women's magazine part of her health regimen included avoiding red meat.

Source: D listed