Celebrity Endorsements: Do They Make You More Likely To Buy A Product - Or Are You Sick Of Them?

When you have the manicured finger of a celebrity, it seems it is necessary to stick it in as many low fat, gluten free pies as necessary. But when it comes to endorsements, do their pouty, preened pictures actually influence us to buy a slice of that promotional pie?

Some well known personalities decide to use their status as a currency, one that they can cash in at the ad agency. These celebrity commercials are everywhere - Natalie Portman for Dior, Mara Rooney for Clavin Klein, Nicole Scherzinger and her little cocoa-dusted baawlls of deliciousness. And for many of the promotions, I can see some link between endorser and endorsee.

But then there are those more, well, unusual matches .

Some of the unexpected liaisons include Alessandra Ambrosio strutting her stuff for Always maxi pads, Ozzy Osbourne cooking fairy cakes with his favourite margarine and those JLS condoms that are surely the best contraceptive known to man. There could be nothing that could kill the mood faster than seeing Aston’s little prepubescent face gazing blankly at you.

And who could forget Brad Pitt’s morose and stilted ramblings for Chanel that spawned a plethora of spoofs? Go home, Brad, you’re drunk.

Other celebrities take it a step further and invest themselves in a direct collaboration with the brand. Collections like Mollie King for Oasis, Kate Bosworth for Topshop, Rihanna for RIver Island and MIA for Versace are just sitting on shelves waiting for you to shell out your shekels from your Rosamund Pike for LK Bennett handbag.

The marriages between beautiful people and pretty products don’t stop there. Alexa Chung has just been revealed as the new Creative Director at Eyeko, while fitness fanatic Kate Hudson is designing leggings for Fabletica. How much work they actually put in to the creative process may vary widely but it’s safe to say that it is their name that actually carries the heaviest workload.

Two of my favourite odd associations are Justin Timberlake’s sojourn as a jingle writer for McDonald’s (dah de dah dah DAAAAH) and Bob Dylan’s moody strutting in this Victoria’s Secret ad (fret not, he isn’t parading around in a diamond encrusted bra with a pair of wings but he will give you his hat if you prance about in your pants).

With the news that Blake Lively is the latest L’Oréal Paris spokesperson (I hope to see shots of her dyeing her hair at home, a plastic shower cap on her noggin while Ryan wanders around eating nachos in, but not from, his y-fronts), will her gorgeous locks sway you towards taking a second look at their offerings? I sadly suspect that I will be influenced, I am powerless against the swish of THAT hair.

Mind you, Peter Andre's spikey barnet didn't lure me to see him at the new Benefit boutique. I'll wait until he's, you know, worth it.

Are you persuaded by celebrity endorsements? Have you seen any bizarre combinations? Is it time to put the brakes on that de rigeur transition from model /actor to business mogul?