The Unfortunate Downside of Forever

Last month I wrote about the perfect union between Chris Brown and Wrigley in the form of "Forever" and his remixed Doublemint jingle.  Unfortunately Chris Brown has proven himself to be less than an ideal celebrity endorser, which raises an important point:  just how "Forever" do brands want these endorsements to be?

Any brand embracing a celebrity spokesperson acknowledges that he or she may fall from grace (*cough* Michael Phelps *cough cough*).  But in 2009, disconnecting your brand from that celebrity is a lot more complicated than pulling TV creative.  Searching blogs for Doublemint will probably always bring up YouTube videos of Chris Brown and entries about the partnership, not to mention the product shot at the beginning of his music video and the jingle injected into the chorus of Forever.  Nothing dies on the Internet, especially when you've made a conscious effort to make it live there.

The more seamlessly you want your product to be associated with a performer or a piece of pop culture, the bigger risk you take.  Now I will escape into the smooth sounds of Umbrella and send out positive energy to Rihanna, wherever she may be...

Both My Pleasure and My Fun Have Increased 100% in Volume

Let me begin by saying I love all things Chris Brown, and his song Forever is in my top 10 for 2008.  After hearing the song a few times, I was immediately in love.  But I realized a suspicious line in the middle of the chorus:

It's like I waited my whole life

For this one night

It's gon' be me, you and the dance floor

Cause we only got one night

Double your pleasure, double your fun

And dance forever...

Wait, what?  The tagline for one of the dorkiest gum brands of all time?  Running through my head were the twin-filled spots of the 90s...pretty much the opposite of Chris Brown's abs pictured at left.

Some of my love wore away when I realized it was more marketing gimmick than lyrical genius as Chris Brown's commercial and sexed up jingle debuted in August.  But in the end, I didn't care that Lam and I were actually belting out the Doublemint jingle as we drove to the bar with Sally's top down.  I didn't care that Chris Brown very slowly and seductively placed a stick of gum in his mouth at the beginning of the music video.  I just loved the song, and so did a lot of my peers (Forever hit #2 on the Billboard Top 100 and #1 on the Pop 100).  

If the goal was to re-brand Doublemint to shed its 90s image, WIN.  What better way to raise brand awareness with a new target than to literally get them singing your jingle?  Mr. Brown spinning around with that Doublemint pack in his back pocket energized the brand and put it among the ranks of Orbit, Stride, and 5--and into 2008.

The video product placement, tagline (but not blatant name drop) in the lyrics, and dedicated spot brought the partnership full circle.  Smashing success!  I just have one gripe: the first time I ever saw the Chris Brown spot was last night, six months after it premiered and after the song was at its peak popularity!  Maybe this was just me living under a rock, but why didn't I see it during Gossip Girl and on VH1 all summer??

Did you see the spot earlier?  Or did Wrigley spend its entire budget in production and cross their fingers for a viral hit?