Pierre Cardin may have set the all-time record for the number of licensed products he rented his name out to – as many as 100 according to some estimates – but these days the race is on between three well-known celebs in product branding.
Shaquille O’Neal, Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart come from as different backgrounds as is possible these days – sports, hip-hop and catering – but each is staking out a nearly unprecedented contemporary presence in licensing, with no end in sight for the number of products, services and assorted doodads they are putting their names on – for a price.
The latest from Martha is a line of apparel and accessories for Tractor Supply Co., the rural retailer that was one of the stars of the retail world during the urban flight of the pandemic and has since leveled off but remained healthy. The line, which Women’s Wear Daily called “gardening garb.” includes about eight pieces and is being tested in 50 of TSC’s stores.
When you think about it, combining gardening with apparel is kind of a great fit for Stewart who has made her outdoor backyard pursuits one of the foundations of her brand. It comes as her big home program with Macy’s has wound down and she is dispersing her name all across the retail spectrum under the ownership of Marquee Brands. WWD, by the way, called Stewart “the nonstop entrepreneur, author and arbiter of entertaining with style,” and that is as good a description as we could come up with…especially the non-stop part.
At least Martha has some cred in these kinds of products. Shaq and Snoop have no such basis but it doesn’t seem to have stopped either one of them from putting their name on all sorts of things, the latter sometimes in conjunction with Stewart too, which has to be the most unlikely Odd Couple in branding history.
We get Shaq doing food and eating related tie-ins, as he is an owner of assorted Papa John’s restaurants and he is, after all, a rather larger person who one would think can hold his own in any eating contest. But he’s doing all kinds of other deals, including one for a cruise line. Given the size of many cruise ship cabins we wonder if he is a fit—literally – for those ships.
Snoop is perhaps the most unlikely product spokesperson since George Foreman lent his name to a countertop grilling device that eventually turned out to be the single most successful kitchen appliance in housewares history. Foreman was a vicious, not-particularly-warm-and-fuzzy boxer who would seem to be not the most handy household helper around but at least his image was not full-on gangsta with serious drug usage and a prison record. Born Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr., Snoop took his original rap name Snoop Doggy Dogg and became one of the superstars of the musical genre. We get that he shills for CBD and marijuana products but now he endorses beer, barbeque grills and all sorts of other products that hip hop performers are usually not associated with.
This trio turns up in some new product endorsement or branding endeavor it seems on a regular basis. Each has branched out quite far from their roots, proving the power of celebrities even if the connection is vague at best.
We live in a Kardashian world: Martha Stewart, Shaquille O’Neal and Snoop Dogg are just the latest stars. Can’t wait to see who is next.
WarrensReport 