Branding Disasters: Planet Hollywood

Finding a celebrity to endorse your products can be a lucrative move but the stellar backers of Planet Hollywood discovered the dark side of fame when they tried to cash in on a brand with no real substance for customers.

Watch the adverts on TV today and you're bound to come across at least one celebrity endorsement. But while having a big name associated with your brand can create a buzz around a product and boost sales, its fame can be short lived if customers see through the hype and don't have any loyalty to the brand.

As you may have noticed from the trademark swoosh adorning his clothes, Tiger Woods has been enjoying a successful relationship with Nike over the years. However, after Woods was featured in ads endorsing Nike Tour Accuracy golf balls back in 2000, some consumers were left feeling cheated when it emerged that Nike was being sued by non-profit group Public Remedies in a US district court for unfair business practices. The reason was that the balls that Woods was using in professional tournaments were in fact custom made and not available to the public.