Celebrities urged to take care with endorsements

Mike King. Photo / Supplied

Mike King's role in the pig farming furore should make celebrities think twice before accepting high-paying endorsements to bring home the bacon, experts say.

Auckland University senior marketing lecturer Tom Agee said high-profile figures should ignore agents and do research before banking their cheques. "At the end of the day Mike [King] is just a comedian who probably thought he was doing a good thing by advertising certain recipes featuring pork," he said. "Have the Evers-Swindell twins thoroughly researched how beef and lamb is manufactured? Probably not." Prominent Kiwis behind certain brands - Marc Ellis (HRV ventilation systems), Richard Long (Hanover Finance) and Sarah Ulmer (McDonald's and Beef and Lamb) - did not return calls.

All Black legend Colin Meads, who appears in a television campaign for deer velvet, was more forthcoming and said he agreed to endorse the product because he had been using it for years.

Herald on Sunday columnist Leigh Hart this week confirmed his confidence in the Hellers range of meat products, which he represents.