When a celebrity endorsement deal sours

“Companies do extensive research on image sales and some foster bad-boy or bad-girl campaigns. Those campaigns sell product,” said Mina Sirkin, a Los Angeles attorney who served as a frequent TV legal expert on the death of Anna Nicole Smith and the conservatorship of Britney Spears.

“The wholesome image is not selling as well these days,” Sirkin said. “The talent know this and know that bad acts sell products and, therefore, get better sponsorships, so there is an open invitation to bad acts.”

The bigger question, said Sirkin, is this: Which nasty deeds are real and which are manufactured by a celebrity’s publicity team and then “leaked” to the media?

Consider IndyCar driver Danica Patrick — feisty, even a fighter, on the track and not afraid to don skimpy swimwear to boost her racy persona. Patrick’s sponsors include GoDaddy.com and Motorola. But is she really all that edgy? Thousands of fans and consumers are buying it.

“There’s a sense of something waiting to happen, a bit crafty,” said Bonnie Russell, a Patrick fan and founder of an attorney-locator service in Del Mar, Calif. “I just totally see Danica profiting after being bad. I really do think Danica could get away with a lot.”

Some celebs earn second chances
The same holds true for law-breaching celebrities who have otherwise shined with virtue like Phelps, who also weathered a 2004 DUI case. The 14 gold medals he has earned for Team USA have bought him a pool-full of public tolerance, as well as second and third chances as a celebrity endorser, branding experts said.

“Goodwill is what drove the general public’s response to his mistake,” said Courtney Leddy, vice president of Ketchum Sports Network, which helps clients like Kodak and FedEx with sports sponsorships. “People didn’t agree with his choice, but they balanced that with their positive feelings.”

Of course, there are some limits to the lapses — and to what sponsors and companies will agree to swallow.

Some crimes or social blunders will bring a swift, permanent end to a celeb’s endorsement career. It is generally accepted in the industry that racist remarks, certain religious commentary and violent crime convictions, including domestic violence, will earn a sponsorship death penalty. Even public apologies don’t help. Which is why most branding experts don’t see singer Chris Brown emerging commercially from his alleged assault on girlfriend and fellow entertainer Rihanna. Wrigley’s gum dropped Brown after the incident.

Animal cruelty, like the case that brought down ex-NFL quarterback Michael Vick, may be another unforgivable offense among sponsors and shoppers. Some branding experts see no resurrection of Vick as a pitchman.

Again, though, the ethical line is blurry, even on this point.

“The memory tends to fade as the crisis fades,” said Melissa St. James, assistant professor of marketing at California State University Dominguez Hills. She wrote her doctoral dissertation on celebrity endorsements and has published several research papers on the impact negative publicity can have on celebrity spokespeople.

“What Michael Vick did was horrible,” St. James said, “but I think even that will fade with time.”

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