Bad move Weil - everyone loves Theron

Something I found today that caught my eye is this commentary on Charlize Theron and celebrity endorsements.

Theron is the spokesperson for Raymond Weil watches and is now being sued because she was seen in public wearing a different company’s watch. How crazy is our society that someone has to wear only one kind of watch or drink only one kind of soda (Britney Spears better stay away from the Coke or Pepsi will have a fit). I understand that she signed a contract and should be smart enough not to test the rules. (And even as I am writing this I am becoming more in tune with the Weil team and how paying a celebrity millions and not getting what you wanted would be frustrating.) Yet, suing her for wearing a different watch one day is just absurd.

Speaking in PR terms, I think it was a bad move on the part of Weil. Nobody is going to notice that Theron is not wearing a Weil watch. We really don’t care that much – we would rather see who she is kissing at lunch, or even what she is eating (we are that obsessed with celebrity). By suing Charlize Theron, Weil is making the company look foolish and anal retentive – this never looks good to the public. Weil is drawing attention to something that would have gone unnoticed. And while all publicity is supposedly good publicity, it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t think Theron is intriguing, so to sue her simply for wearing a different watch only makes people side with her and against Weil.