[gmt2027]

I do not believe the line is so clear cut for a recognisable face. Brands seek out these celebrities and pay a premium for the aura. The endorsement is implicit.

Consider that the relationship works both ways, the celebrity's own brand is tarnished by involvement with a product hit by scandal. See the celebrities that promoted FTX as an example. It is in their own interest to do some due diligence.

Conversely, the ads would be dropped if the celebrity actor became toxic. If Kelly Rowland made Kanye-style comments about Nazis or Jews, the ad would be buried. Are Kevin Spacey ads still airing?

The entire celebrity/influencer marketing system intentionally exploits a failure mode of human cognitive bias for profit. Transactional endorsements are morally bankrupt. A family member or friend that blindly recommended a product or service for pay would lose respect for that breach of trust. Celebrities that people respect should be held to the same or higher standards.

Consider this, if John Carmack regularly did ads playing a generic software engineer at BigCo and it turned out he didn't even know what the products were, would this community hold him in the same high regard?

[flohofwoe]

Ads uncovered as exploitation scheme, news at 11 !!

Or as the old capitalist saying goes: We know they are telling us bullshit, they know they are telling us bullshit, they know we know they are telling us bullshit, we know they know we know they are telling us bullshit, but we are still buying their product ;)