Celebs on (for) Sale

We recently learned that due to these trying economic times, celebrities now come at a new low, low price. Like everything else, famous spokespeople, celeb endorsements and star appearances are now ON SALE.

And I'm only half joking... in many ways this is a great time to inexpensively explore the realm of celebrity marketing. If you're so inclined.

In one "offer" we recently received, a company will survey celebrities about issues related to your brand and the reduced-rate responses are yours to use in press materials and announcements. You pay for the number of celebrity respondents and costs depend on how "big" the celebrities are. Y'know, fame-wise. Soap Opera actors, reality stars and "stars of yesteryear" come at the bargain rate of $3,500... but many will "work" for less (yay?). Bigger stars (the ones still working, I presume) still fetch higher figures.

So the question is - when does it make sense to reach for the stars?

-Erica Erland