594. Your Brand’s Spokesperson Just Got Arrested — Now What?

It’s hard to know whether the benefits of hiring a celebrity are worth the risk. We dig into one gruesome story of an endorsement gone wrong, and find a surprising result. SOURCES: John Cawley , professor of economics at Cornell University. Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson , executive director and senior fellow with the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania. Alvin Roth , professor of economics at Stanford University. RESOURCES: " Kanye and Adidas: Money, Misconduct and the Price of Appeasement ," by Megan Twohey ( The New York Times, 2023). " The Role of Repugnance in Markets: How the Jared Fogle Scandal Affected Patronage of Subway ," by John Cawley, Julia Eddelbuettel, Scott Cunningham, Matthew D. Eisenberg, Alan D. Mathios, and Rosemary J. Avery ( NBER Working Paper, 2023). " How Celebrity Status and Gaze Direction in Ads Drive Visual Attention to Shape Consumer Decisions ," by Simone D'Ambrogio, Noah Werksman, Michael L. Platt, and Elizabeth Johnson ( Psychology & Marketing, 2022). " Consumer Responses to Firms’ Voluntary Disclosure of Information: Evidence from Calorie Labeling by Starbucks ," by Rosemary Avery, John Cawley, Julia Eddelbuettel, Matthew D. Ei…