Nintendo Tested, Celebrity Approved: DS Endorsements

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Celebrities are the newest form of marketing for the Nintendo DS! Surprised? Me neither, really. The question is, though, will this new strategy of bringing celebrities into the loop be viewed as a blessing or a curse for the legendary video game company?

Every company that has a product they want to sell to the public needs a strong marketing strategy. Nintendo is no different. Recently, the game company took the same path that presidential candidates have used: celebrity endorsements. We have all seen the commercial of Carrie Underwood playing a rose-colored DS while riding in her tour bus.

But let’s not forget about the ad for Brain Age 2 starring Nicole Kidman (whose apparent brain age happens to be 52, 11 years more than her real age) struggling through “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” Now there are reports of even more celebrities jumping on the DS bandwagon. The celebrities used in the DS commercials will be marketing the DS, one of its many games, and the different colors it’s available in. America Ferrera and the above-stated Carrie Underwood will be in commercials marketing the Metallic Rose version of the DS, while Liv Tyler will be showing off the cool Crimson/Black model.

Using celebrities to market a product is nothing new—it’s been around as long as marketing. Heck, just today I watched a commercial starring Jamie Lee Curtis promoting yogurt that keeps her “regular.” Now, I usually dislike it whenever celebrities become involved in anything sales-wise. This is due to the fact that, not only do I not believe the celebrity actually uses the product, but also because people will probably want to buy in solely because that celebrity has/uses one.

In this case however, I believe Nintendo made a great strategic move with celebrity endorsement. Not only will it appeal to the female market, but also to an older (or should I say, more mature) generation with Liv Tyler and Nicole Kidman. Besides, what’s better than getting some of the hottest stars in Hollywood to endorse your product? My only hope is that people buy a Nintendo DS because they want and will use one, not just because some celebrity does.