Technique
Testimonial and endorsement
Ads in which a person vouches for the product: a celebrity, an athlete, an expert or an ordinary customer.
2020s
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2022Never Done Evolving feat. Serena
The ad is built entirely around Serena Williams, pitting her teenage and veteran selves against each other to embody the brand's theme of constant evolution.
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2021Not Just a Cadbury Ad ("Shah Rukh Khan-My-Ad")
Machine learning recreates the face and voice of India's biggest film star so that he names stores near each viewer.
2010s
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2018Dream Crazy
Kaepernick fronts and narrates the film, lending his own sacrifice to a message about chasing impossible ambitions whatever the cost.
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2017Calling JohnMalkovich.com
John Malkovich, playing himself as a new menswear designer, embodies the very panic the product solves: someone else holding your domain.
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2014I Will What I Want (Gisele Bündchen)
A newly signed supermodel works a heavy bag in one raw take, her determination answering online doubts that she is a real athlete.
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2013The Epic Split
Jean-Claude Van Damme stakes his body on the trucks' steering, putting a recognisable face on a technical feature sold to fleet buyers.
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2012Halftime in America
Clint Eastwood's rasping narration lends a famous, weathered voice to the call for a national comeback.
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2012Tips From Former Smokers ("Terrie")
A real former smoker speaks from experience about getting ready each day after throat cancer treatment took her teeth, her hair and her larynx.
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2011Born of Fire ("Imported from Detroit")
Eminem drives the Chrysler 200 through Detroit to the Fox Theatre, so the star himself embodies the defiant comeback the car stands for.
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2010Write the Future
Star footballers such as Rooney and Ronaldo, plus a cameo from Kobe Bryant, carry the epic, closely identifying Nike with the players fans are about to watch.
2000s
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Fiesta MovementFord2009
Fiesta Movement
A hundred social-media-savvy agents drive the car for six months, so it is introduced through their unscripted posts rather than the carmaker's own claims.
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2008The Great Schlep
Sarah Silverman fronts the video, urging young people to persuade their grandparents and to withhold visits if they refuse.
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2005Crossbar ("Ronaldinho: Touch of Gold")
A star doing something just about believable ties the boots to his skill, and the argument over whether it was real keeps people forwarding it.
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2002Do Boond Zindagi Ki ("Two Drops of Life")
India's best-known film star fronts the campaign, using his fame to persuade reluctant parents to bring their children for the vaccine.
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2002Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola
Bollywood star Aamir Khan, disguised as a run of regional characters such as a Punjabi farmer, personally insists that a cold drink means Coca-Cola.
1990s
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Milk. What a surprise!National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board (MilkPEP)1995
The Milk Mustache ("Milk. What a Surprise!")
Stars such as Lauren Bacall and Naomi Campbell, lit and posed like magazine covers, lend their celebrity to an everyday drink.
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Power is nothing without control.Pirelli1994
Power Is Nothing Without Control (Carl Lewis)
An Olympic champion sprinter, cast against type in red stilettos, lends his famous speed to a tyre brand.
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1993The Showdown (Jordan vs. Bird)
Two basketball greats play believable versions of themselves, with the burger as the stakes rather than the subject of their contest.
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1992Hare Jordan
Michael Jordan plays alongside Bugs Bunny, so the brand pairs its star athlete's fame with a much-loved cartoon character.
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1992New Can
The most famous supermodel of the moment drinks a Pepsi, lending her star power before the spot hands the spotlight back to the packaging.
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1991Uh-Huh (You Got the Right One, Baby)
Ray Charles performs the jingle at a grand piano, lending a legendary musician's voice and charisma to a diet cola.
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1991Be Like Mike
Footage of Jordan laughing and playing with children invites viewers not just to drink what he drinks but to become like him.
1980s
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1989Bo Knows
Stars from other sports vouch that Bo knows their game, using the one athlete playing two professional sports to sell a shoe for every sport.
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1986Don't Mess with Texas
Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan delivers the launch spot's closing command, lending a home-grown star's cool to a message aimed at young men.
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1984Come and Say G'day (Shrimp on the Barbie)
A local television star addresses Americans directly as their host, personally promising to slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for them.
1970s
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1979Hey Kid, Catch! ("Mean Joe Greene")
A famously fearsome football star plays himself, so his gratitude for the drink works as a warm celebrity endorsement.
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Can West Wear East?Parco1979
Can West Wear East?
Faye Dunaway, in an Issey Miyake robe, embraces two Japanese girls, lending her star presence to a store that sells a point of view rather than merchandise.
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1974Tastes Great, Less Filling
Masculine sports stars and tough-guy celebrities lend the light beer credibility with exactly the drinkers who might have mocked a diet product.
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Let Noxzema cream your face.Noxzema1973
Let Noxzema Cream Your Face
Jets quarterback Joe Namath fronts the shaving cream, lending a famous athlete's celebrity and grin to the product.
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1971Because I'm Worth It
A woman speaks for herself about her own choice, replacing the familiar male voiceover in which a husband praises his wife's hair.
1910s
1890s
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1893Divan Japonais
Prominently featuring the dancer Jane Avril and singer Yvette Guilbert implies you might see such stars there, though neither then performed at the venue.
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1891Moulin Rouge – La Goulue
The cancan star La Goulue, mid-kick at the centre of the floor, is the named attraction that sells the dance hall's season.
Testimonial and endorsement: how it works
A testimonial ad uses a person to vouch for the product. That person might be a celebrity, an athlete, an expert or a satisfied customer. It is one of the seven propaganda devices popularised by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis in the late 1930s, and it is still taught as a way to read advertising critically.
How to spot it
- A recognisable face or voice is the reason to pay attention.
- The endorser's qualities (talent, toughness, honesty, cool) are meant to rub off on the brand.
- The best examples give the star something surprising to do rather than simply reading a script.
Why it works, and the risks
Fame buys attention and borrowed trust. The danger is that people remember the celebrity and forget the brand, or that the endorser's later reputation drags the brand with them. The examples below show how the strongest ads make the star serve the idea.