T-Mobile dropping Catherine Zeta-Jones

Posted Sep 26th 2006 11:15AM by Tom Biro
Filed under: Indoor, Online, Outdoor, Print, Search, Campaign Launch, Celebrities

Do celebrities make a difference in advertising campaigns? Sure, people remember them. Sarah Jessica Parker was successfully annoying (no really, the ads were rated that, I'm not just saying it), and we could probably come up with a dozen more. And don't even get me started about Antonio Banderas playing the bee in Nasonex commercials.

So what's the point of this random banter? Well, T-Mobile USA has stated that it will be removing stalwart ad lady Catherine Zeta-Jones from its commercials and marketing materials when her contract is up next year. The Wall Street Journal's Amol Sharma reports that in fact, you'll probably see her a lot less than you've been used to. Maybe she'll be relegated to her head in a little box at the end of ads, saying "Get More" and that's all. This is all in an effort to go "more man-on-street" for the company, apparently. First, Jamie Lee Curtis was the pitchwoman for VoiceStream, now known as T-Mobile, then CZJ hit the scene. Not a bad couple of choices, as far as celebrities go, but are we seeing a legit backlash to celebrity usage here, in that the company feels that Zeta-Jones isn't selling product or keeping the company top of mind? I'd say the latter shouldn't be the case, because if you ask just about anyone on the street, they'd recognize her from her association with T-Mobile, but "man-on-street" may be similar to how companies are realizing a more one-to-one communication method is more in line with relating to customers, rather than top-down communication.

It'll be different to see T-Mobile spots without her, but as our own Chris Thilk said to me this morning on IM, "most. useless. celebrity. usage. ever." That's not to say that he doesn't get that she's recognizable, more that she doesn't sell product. What will Alltel do now?

Reader Comments

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1. I think Kirstie Alley as Jenny Craig's spokesperson was an awesome idea. For the JC demo - she comes off as a closer-to-average person. Jenny Craig had kind of faded in the back of everyone's minds - but I think she's given it a new life.

Posted at 12:14AM on Sep 27th 2006 by Jen

2. To me, as widely understood some commercials are so childish that they annoy me - BUUUUT the real annoyance comes with things like the newer GEICO commercials using the celebrities to speak for the quote"real person".
with the exception of the one with "mini-me", which is tolerable - the rest have me jumping for the remote, and there are those that are really dumb like the guy parasailing off the cliff to get into his suv, how does he get home anyway???

Posted at 6:13AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Ron

3. I am always annoyed at celebrity commercials. The best commercials feature dogs.

Posted at 6:51AM on Sep 28th 2006 by marcia greyson

4. Some celebs shake up the public and they are welcome to advertise a product. Some are just obnoxious but the advertising media wants to gain attention, and that's what a celeb's presence does.

Posted at 7:18AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Gee

5. when they drop ZETA I will drop them..

Posted at 6:19AM on Sep 28th 2006 by jesse

6. uma thurman...she's great and have been endorse many times..remember LV said tht she was their best campaigner..she gaves new meaning to things.

Posted at 6:19AM on Sep 28th 2006 by ryan

7. Even though I like Kirstie, in the ads I rarely see a large enough weight loss to notice.

Posted at 6:27AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Carol

8. I think t-mobile's problem is not with the advertising, it's with the product, and changing the pitch person won't fix that. I think that's the deal with many products...when I'm buying something, I could care less who's on the commercials, I look for quality, price and service. Period.

Posted at 6:28AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Heather

9. Whoever thought of using the celebrities in the Geico ads was crazy. I hate them, I think they are so annoying. They make no sense. Give us the Gecko back. He was much cuter and funnier!! Celebrities don't always make a commercial better. This was one of those ads that should of used what worked already!!

Posted at 6:32AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Kathy Johnson

10. THE BEST ADS ON TELEVISION ARE THE IDENITY THEFT ONES FOR A CERTAIN CREDIT CARD COMPANY......THEY USE REAL PEOPLE AND ALWAYS PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU WATCH THEM.

Posted at 6:48AM on Sep 28th 2006 by RICK LAWRENCE

11. Yes, I would have to agree with Heather. T-mobile's problem is not it's advertisements but there service. Their service is terrible, I spent one year with them and most of my cell phone conversations were spent asking the person on the other end if they could hear me because my service was fading. Or I spent a good amount of time calling the company to get credit for a dropped call. They are just another bad cell phone company.

Posted at 6:47AM on Sep 28th 2006 by K Williams

12. #2 Heather I totally agree. 5 stars to you.

Posted at 6:50AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Nancy Garrison

13. Kathrine Zeta-Jones didn't write the commercials....so quit picking on her and start picking new ad writers. As long as the "catch-phrase" sticks in peoples' minds, you've got the public won over.

Posted at 6:51AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Christine P.

14. This doesn't surprise me. She's probably the prettiest woman in Hollywood, got great legs and is smart! For some dumb reason, consumers (fans?) like the ugly types like that Jap skank on "Grey's Anatomy", or Oprah, or Sarah Jessica-Parker.

Posted at 6:53AM on Sep 28th 2006 by David

15. Celebrities are not relevant product marketers in times of terrorism and economic downturns. Who relies on an overprivileged actor who has no practical knowledge of the product selling it????? It really is absurd when you think about the emotional tweaking advertisers/marketers play with your needs vs. desires.
The latest and greatest usually is just repackaged identity.

Posted at 6:53AM on Sep 28th 2006 by D

16. how about having better reception! OR rollover minutes!! hows about keepin up w the times and improving t mobile!! maybe that will sell product? hmm think

Posted at 6:57AM on Sep 28th 2006 by J

17. I agree with Heather in post # 2."I think t-mobile's problem is not with the advertising, it's with the product, and changing the pitch person won't fix that. I think that's the deal with many products...when I'm buying something, I could care less who's on the commercials, I look for quality, price and service. Period." There is also the matter of how T-Mobile treats its employees. I used to work for a company that was contracted by T-Mobile to handle some of its customer service calls and I can tell you that neither that company nor T-Mobile treats their employees even close to well. T-Mobile is just not the most wonderful cell phone products and service company there is.

Posted at 6:56AM on Sep 28th 2006 by COE

18. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a great celebrity for the T-Mobile Ads. The problem with the ad is that she is not shown enough. As the saying goes, she could "sell refrigerators to the Eskimos", buy just being in the ad. T-Mobile is making a mistake to cut her out.

Posted at 6:56AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Paul

19. Fake! Fake! Fake!
You never saw her use the phone in her real life therefore, you didn't believe the ad.

Posted at 8:58AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Beth

20. Celebraties hawking any product in no way influences my purchases. I've got two words for manufacturers /servicers: product quality. Since I end up watching commericals, I like the Geico ads with the cavemen, glad there's a new one, restaurant was overplayed. Love the Jimmy Dean spots with the Sun and the Moon. Who are the people playing these roles? Don't know, don't care. Kudos to the ad companies for making my chuckle.

Posted at 7:03AM on Sep 28th 2006 by Kat

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