594. Your Brand’s Spokesperson Just Got Arrested — Now What?
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It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome story of an endorsement gone wrong, and find a surprising result.

• SOURCES:

• John Cawley), professor of economics at Cornell University.

• Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson), executive director and senior fellow with the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Alvin Roth), professor of economics at Stanford University.

• RESOURCES:

• "Kanye and Adidas: Money, Misconduct and the Price of Appeasement)," by Megan Twohey (*The New York Times, *2023).

• "The Role of Repugnance in Markets: How the Jared Fogle Scandal Affected Patronage of Subway)," by John Cawley, Julia Eddelbuettel, Scott Cunningham, Matthew D. Eisenberg, Alan D. Mathios, and Rosemary J. Avery (*NBER Working Paper, *2023).

• "How Celebrity Status and Gaze Direction in Ads Drive Visual Attention to Shape Consumer Decisions)," by Simone D'Ambrogio, Noah Werksman, Michael L. Platt, and Elizabeth Johnson (*Psychology & Marketing, *2022).

• "Consumer Responses to Firms’ Voluntary Disclosure of Information: Evidence from Calorie Labeling by Starbucks)," by Rosemary Avery, John Cawley, Julia Eddelbuettel, Matthew D. Eisenberg, Charlie Mann, and Alan D. Mathios (*NBER Working Paper, *2021).

• "Consumer Heterogeneity and Paid Search Effectiveness: A Large Scale Field Experiment)," by Thomas Blake, Chris Nosko, and Steven Tadelis (*NBER Working Paper, *2014).

• "The Economics of Obesity)," by John Cawley (*The Reporter, *2013).

• "Repugnance as a Constraint on Markets)," by Alvin Roth (*Journal of Economic Perspectives, *2007).

• EXTRAS:

• "Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 2: Digital))," by *Freakonomics Radio *(2020).

• "Does Advertising Actually Work? (Part 1: TV))," by *Freakonomics Radio *(2020).