Playboy model's endorsements tarnish Olive Garden's image

By Rebecca Dana, The Wall Street Journal

Published August 13, 2008 at 8:26 p.m.

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Kendra Wilkinson, a Playboy cover model, loves the family-oriented Olive Garden Italian restaurant chain, but the company is uncomfortable with her unsolicited support. Wilkinson said, "I understand they're a family restaurant, but I think it can't hurt them to have a little spice."

Kendra Wilkinson, a Playboy cover model, television star and one of Hugh Hefner's three live-in girlfriends, professes deep love for the Olive Garden Italian restaurant chain.

The feeling isn't mutual.

To the consternation of Olive Garden's marketers, who have spent millions crafting the franchise's family-friendly image, the 23-year-old adult-entertainment star and aspiring real-estate mogul repeatedly uses her spotlight to rave about its midprice eateries.

Wilkinson hoists Olive Garden doggie bags in the air and extols its chicken parmigiana. She once scandalized European diners by declaring the Olive Garden preferable to any restaurants in Italy.

Wilkinson, whose tan skin and blonde-white hair project classic California, isn't on the payroll. She is a rogue brand ambassador: a celebrity who is genuinely, publicly devoted to a product or service, even if he or she doesn't quite embody the values that the brand's managers may be trying to convey.

Executives at Olive Garden declined to discuss the uninvited spokesmodel. One official said the company has tried to walk a fine line with its response, maintaining the chain's wholesome image without alienating potential customers. "I don't feel comfortable talking about this . . . because it is a complicated issue for the brand," said Michele Kay, executive vice president of WPP Group's Grey advertising firm, which handles the Olive Garden account.

Wilkinson said that when she started praising the restaurant on television and on her very popular MySpace page, it never crossed her mind what the folks at Olive Garden might think. "I don't speak about it to get paid for it," she said. "I speak about it because I love it. I understand they're a family restaurant, but I think it can't hurt them to have a little spice."

As media outlets fragment and the advertising landscape grows cluttered, companies are increasingly realizing the value of a popular star's sincere - and unpaid - endorsement of a product.

In 2003, Thai Union Frozen PCL's Chicken of the Sea capitalized on a big pop-culture moment by inviting singer Jessica Simpson to visit their offices. Simpson had just made headlines for wondering aloud, on national television, whether the canned product contained chicken or tuna.

But unsolicited endorsements can backfire, particularly when the star is controversial. In 2006, the hip-hop community was publicly embracing an array of luxury brands, rapping about Courvoisier cognac, wearing Tommy Hilfiger clothing and driving Cadillac Escalades. In the summer of 2006, The Economist quoted an executive at Champagne Louis Roederer's Cristal saying, "We can't forbid people from buying it. I'm sure Dom Perignon or Krug would be delighted to have their business." The rapper Jay-Z called the comment racist and instigated a boycott.

Since then, other companies beset with unplanned, and perhaps undesirable, endorsements have reacted with a careful mix of distance and passivity.

"The question is: 'Do you have to love someone who loves you?' " said Dave Balter, founder and chief executive of BzzAgent, a Boston-based word-of-mouth media company. The answer is a squishy yes and no.

"The worst thing to do is turn off someone who is that passionate about you," Balter said. "A brand doesn't have to actively embrace someone like Kendra, but they should certainly be willing to accept the fact that she's willing to tell the world how much she loves them."

Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of Nielsen Online Strategic Services, said, "This is the double-edged sword of brand advocacy. Generally speaking, brands benefit from unprompted advocacy, but every once in a while, there will be surprises. It's very difficult to manage."

• August 14, 2008

  10:02 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  pete10000ft writes:

  fake b@@bs endorsing fake italian food...sounds like a marketing dream to me :^P

• August 15, 2008

  12:59 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  nouse4u2 writes:

  based on her recommendations, I would eat there.

• August 15, 2008

  7:31 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  RS writes:

  I can't imagine any company turning down such free publicity from a cultural icon. Then, the controversy itself produces free media such as this very news article.

• August 15, 2008

  10:05 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  toocool writes:

  Pasta and meatballs somehow know no difference between Granny and the kids and a Playboy Bunny - besides "Pete 10000ft" is correct about the Italian label.

• August 19, 2008

  4:27 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  P_Denver writes:

  You've heard the old saying, "There's no such thing as bad publicity"?

  In this case, even an endorsement can be bad publicity.

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