VEGAS, April, 2004
Celebs pick up swag along with the attention, and there’s no shortage of companies ready to offer them goods for free
By Anna David
It’s a truth universally acknowledged throughout Hollywood that the more you can afford things, the less you have to pay for them. Though this fact drips with irony, it also makes sense: in our celebrity-obsessed culture, nothing impacts sales as much as a picture of a Debra Messing – or even a Rachel Hunter, Real World alumni or Days of our Lives cast member – clutching or posing next to the product. Melissa Lemer, who arguably has capitalized on this marketing phenomenon more successfully than anyone, summarizes why it works: “Look at the Kobe Bryant [celebrity endorsement] situation: if you have all your eggs in one basket and $10 million behind one person who then screws up, you’re screwed.”
Lemer’s three-year-old company Silver Spoon – “because everyone should be born with one” – has set the standard for events that garner more passive celebrity endorsements than Democratic Party fundraisers. Four times a year, the weekend of major award shows like the Golden Globes or Emmys, Lemer and cohorts set up lavish freebie festivals where celebrities and assorted VIPs are invited to take what they like, have a cocktail or three and even receive a manicure or instant tan.
The events create a win-win situation: the celebrated ones gather presents and the “sponsors” have an opportunity to meet them face to face, ideally setting up unofficial relationships where they might continue to ship the celebrity products as long as he or she continues to agree to wear or use them. And it’s become an accepted notion that such viral marketing appears more cost effective – not to mention simply more effective – than top- dollar print and television advertisements. As Lemer’s partner Lorena Bendinskas says, “My little cousin is going to open up a magazine and say, ‘Oh my God, I want those jeans that Paris Hilton is wearing, where do I get them?’”
Though the Silver Spoon girls first landed on the idea in 2001, when they had Chrysler foot the bill for a 6,000-square foot Sundance suite which provided MAC makeup, Ole Henrickson facials, goggles and anything else that could come in handy in the snow, the concept has ballooned in the ensuing years. Sundance regulars swore that swag had reached an all-time high this year when they returned from the festival more consumed with stories about the various lounges than they were with reviews of independent movies.
At their Golden Globes extravaganza, which took place over two days at a 30,000-square-foot warehouse in Hollywood, celebrities as varied as Kelly Osbourne, Amber Valletta, Rachel Hunter, Andy Dick, Shannon Elizabeth and Hilary Duff traipsed through the 60-odd booths, picking up everything from Jelly Kelly bags (retail value: $225) to Lovesac lounging chairs (retail value: $299) to Kasil jeans (retail value: $120) to Starbabies’ gift certificates for astrology readings (retail value: $39.95).
