Hells bells, whatever next?

August was the date for our very successful, highly competitive and somewhat fuzzy PDD wine tasting evening in Westbourne Park. The evening clearly revealed who the Jilly Goolden’s and Oz Clarks are amongst us, and equally those that spend their weekends rifling through the bargain bucket in Odd bins for Blue Nun.

Only a few days later, I was amazed and excited to see that age old rockers AC/DC have launched their own range of fine wines. The range will consist of four wines, each named after their biggest hits. The first is a cabernet sauvignon named ”Highway to hell”, the second a sauvignon blanc called ”Hells bells”, the third a Shiraz ”Back in black” and finally a Moscato aptly named ”You shook me all night long”. They have worked closely with the Australian winery The Warburn Estate, sourcing wines from the Barossa and Coonawarra regions.

Image from www.acdcfans.net Image from www.acdcwallpapers.com

ACDC are not the only celebrities to launch or endorse a product. JLS recently teamed up with Durex and launched the exclusive “Just Love Safe” packs of Extra Safe condoms in support of the newly launched JLS Charitable Foundation. Each of the four packs features one of the four band members with their own individual colour. Dear Lord!

Image from www.durex.com

Celebrities have long been associated with  beauty products , reaching as far back as 1987 when Liz Taylor launched her “Passion” fragrance. 2011 is the year Beyonce topped the celebrity fragrance charts with “Heat”, followed closely by Colleen Rooney with “Butterflies”. We are all doomed!

Let’s not just  leave  it at beauty products. In 2010 Dr Dre, a credible hip hop artist, has licensed his “Beats by Dr.Dre” headphones to Hewlett Packard, whilst pop stars Lady Gaga and Will.i.am have become creative directors for technology companies, Polaroid and Intel respectively.

Images from www.psfk.com

This got me thinking, what’s  next  for celebrity, product and brand? What can we expect in 2012? How far can it really be pushed? Rooney Hair care range? Bieber Beer? Or even Kasabian kitchen cleaner? Naaaah, didn’t think so either!

It is clear however, that the boundaries between product, brand and celebrity are merging. Celebrity is becoming the brand, whilst the product is becoming a tool to sell the brand. Whether, as a consumer, you buy into this or not, I think we’re going to see some pretty bizarre and fairly diabolical results along the way.

Right, I’m off to Odd bins! Anyone for Blue Nun?