発信箱：セレブ依存症＝福本容子

(Mainichi Japan) August 14, 2009
Effectiveness of high-priced celebrities in TV ads overrated
発信箱：セレブ依存症＝福本容子

"I couldn't believe what they were paying me. If I could do one every year, I could retire," confessed Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper half-jokingly about his appearance in a Japanese television commercial. The ad for bath salts featured Hopper soaking in a tub with a rubber duck.
　「ギャラの多さに仰天。毎年これ１本で引退できるね」
　と、冗談交じりに本音を漏らしたのはハリウッド男優のデニス・ホッパーさんだった。以前、日本のテレビＣＭに出演した時の感想。こわもてのキャラながら、入浴剤のＣＭで黄色いゴム製アヒルを湯船に浮かべ「アヒルちゃん」と言っていたあの人である。

Well-known figures are generally not seen in television commercials in the West. Celebrities may make more appearances today than they did in the past, but still, they only account for about 20 percent of all the commercials in the U.S. While they fear that endorsing products in their home countries would earn them a reputation for "selling out" their names, they have taken on goofy roles in Japan for TV commercials, figuring their secret will be safe here. After all, they can get paid hundreds of millions of yen for just a few days' work.
　欧米のＣＭに有名人はあまり出てこない。最近、増えてきたといってもアメリカでは全体の２割程度。「名声を売るヤツ」との悪評を彼らは気にする。でも「日本でなら安全」と間抜けな役さえ演じてきた。なんたって数日で何千万円、何億円と稼げるのだ。

According to CM Databank, a television commercial research and consulting company, 41 percent of all commercials aired in Japan in fiscal 2008 employed celebrities. From this figure, one would assume that famous faces translate into increased profits.
　ＣＭ総合研究所によると０８年度に日本でオンエアされた全作品の４１％が有名タレントを使っていた。放映頻度が高いＣＭならもっと多いはず。相当な効果なのだろう。

However, there is research showing that this is not necessarily the case.
　実はそうでもない、との調査結果がある。

A team led by professor Brett Martin from the University of Bath in Britain presented students with fake ads for digital cameras to determine the ads' effectiveness. As it turns out, ads featuring average, student-like characters proved to be more effective than those with famous people. Apparently, it's the "If Joe Blow uses it, then maybe I will, too," mentality. Furthermore, it's said that this holds true in any culture.
英バース大・マーチン教授らがデジタルカメラの架空広告を学生たちに見せ効果を調べた。すると有名人が登場するものより平凡な学生風の人物が宣伝した方がずっと効果があったそうだ。「山田君が持ってるなら僕も」の心理らしい。どの国にも当てはまるのだとか。

Perhaps our conviction that famous people sell products had been wrong all along.
　「広告には有名人」と勝手に思い込んでいただけなのかも。

Seeing how not only private companies, but even the government and courts have employed big names in their advertisements and public service announcements, only to be forced to "voluntarily" pull those ads off the air when those very celebrities become embroiled in unexpected scandals, it's about time we try a different tack.
企業に加え政府や裁判所まで有名人を広報に起用しては“想定外”のスキャンダルで右へならえの放映自粛を繰り返すのを見ていると、そろそろ路線を変えたら、と思う。

Both Toyota and Honda have received praise for their innovative and humorous commercials created for overseas audiences.
トヨタもホンダも海外では独創的でユーモアたっぷりのＣＭを流し高い評価を得ているのだから。

And that's without the help of famous people.
有名人抜きで。

Have we lost the creativity to stimulate the sensibilities of our viewers with new ideas?
　見る者の感覚をアイデアで刺激する創造力まで退化させてはいない？　

The ill effects of our dependency on celebrities may be more far-reaching than we think.
セレブ依存症の害は結構、重いみたい。

(Column by Yoko Fukumoto, Business News Department)
（経済部）

毎日新聞　2009年8月14日　東京朝刊