Jennifer Aniston is the face that launched a thousand campaigns. Reporter Molly Fitzpatrick for Elle magazine takes us inside of the actresses endorsement deals. Please *Note before reading the following story: Jennifer Aniston's publicist declined a request for comment for this
story. Representatives for SmartWater, Aveeno, Eyelove, Emirates and
Living Proof also declined or failed to respond by press time.
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| SmartWater |
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| Emirates |
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| Living Proof |
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| Shire |
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| Aveeno |
"The actress America first fell in love with for her performances on screens small and large has become even more ubiquitous in advertising: Flip through a magazine and you might see her clutching a bottle of SmartWater. Turn on the television and find her espousing the positively radiant merits of Aveeno moisturizer; change the channel and there she'll be again, this time encouraging you to talk to your doctor about what could very well be chronic dry eye for Shire Eye Care.
Her business ventures are awfully lucrative, too. Though she is no longer making $1-million an episode on one of the most popular television shows of all time ('
Friends' 1994-2004) ⏤ nor starring in the biggest box-office behemoths in the game ⏤ Forbes magazine ranked Jennifer Aniston in second place (after actress Emma Stone) on the magazine's 2017 list of Highest-Pain (movie) actresses, with an estimated income of $25.5-million.
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| (2017) Luxe by Jennifer Aniston ⏤ her 6th fragrance |
"I would estimate she makes over $10-million a year through her endorsements, easily," says Forbes editor Natalie Robehmed. "It depends year to year, but that could be double what she earns from movies. ($10-million is serious money: For reference, as reported by Variety magazine, that's the blockbuster paycheck actor Chris Pratt and actor/comedian Kevin Hart recently earned for '
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom' and '
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle', respectively.) She's also created six fragrances to date. (Jennifer Aniston in 2011; J in 2012; Near Dusk in 2015; Beachscape in 2016; Luxe in 2017; and Chapter 1 in 2018.) Here's how the household-name star of film and television ⏤ not to mention, unfortunately, tabloid covers ⏤ became a savvy titan of advertising.
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| (2007) Jennifer for SmartWater |
Even though most of us don't exactly have a close personal friendship with Jennifer, we nevertheless feel like we know her. "When you see a celebrity that you recognize in an ad, you're more likely to make a conscious decision to stop, listen, and see what they're doing," explains Chalcea Park, managing director of TMA Luxe, the 'boutique atelier' of the agency The Marketing Arm, which evaluates and connects with celebrity talent on behalf of more than 150 brands (including eight of Forbes' 13 "most valuable" brands). "Celebrities break through the tsunami of messages, images and stimuli and help build an emotional connection to a brand."
The industry term "borrowed equity" refers to the sneaky psychological osmosis by which brands hope that the association consumers have with a celebrity spokesperson will be transferred onto the product itself. Besides the fact that she's obviously beautiful (attractiveness being a valuable trait in just about any salesperson), funny, and charismatic, Aniston's public persona has proven to be particularly sellable. "When I think of Jennifer Aniston, I think of an all-American girl. She seems very wholesome. She's authentic. I think of Rachel Green from '
Friends', because that's the character she played for so many years," says Katie Kelting, assistant of marketing at St. Louis University. "She's the quintessential girl next door, but she's also aspirational." Kelting suggests that Aniston's aversion to social media only heightens her marketability. "She seems to have done a really good job about protecting her image in the public eye, even through all the drama that's happened in her personal life. We really only have what we wee in the movies, or what we saw on television ⏤ we don't get to see her fire off a mean tweet."
And more importantly, people like her. A lot. The Marketing Arm's Celebrity DBI is a database that rates celebrities' awareness among the public, appeal, and other attributes based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers. 94% of respondents were aware of Aniston, a score that puts her in 52nd place out of more than 4,400 celebrities in the DBI; 91% of those people find her appealing. Those formiable numbers rank her 3rd overall out of the female public figures in the database ⏤ for reference, the top two women in the database are former First Lady Michelle Obama and Royal Kate Middleton.
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| (1995) Lisa Kudrow & Jennifer for National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board |
At first, Jennifer Aniston's advertising capital was explicitly tied to her status as a member of the '
Friends' ensemble. Aniston posed alongside Lisa Kudrow with matching milk mustaches for the National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board (not the catchiest of names, that) in 1995, then appeared with Matthew Perry in this very '90s instructional video for Windows 95. The entire cast starred, as their characters, in a high-profile "Who's Gonna Drink the Diet Coke?" campaign with a sweeepstakes component. But soon enough, her individual star would rise.
A-list American celebrities were once more reluctant to participate in domestic ads, out of fear that they'd be perceived as selling out. Instead, those so inclined might make their talents to advertisers overseas. But that stigma began significantly receding in the early 2000s ⏤ in part because, through the magic of the internet, anyone with access to YouTube can now see celebrities like actor/former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger transform into some kind of surreal energy-drink superhero, or actor/comedian Ben Stiller frozen in place by a frosty beverage (in the middle of a football game, for some reason) in commercials originally intended to air only in Japan.
Though she's now an American advertising mainstay, Aniston did her share of shilling without borders earlier in her career. Unsurprisingly, given her inextricable association with 'The Rachel', the most iconic haircut of its time, one of her first solo campaigns was for L'Oreal Elvive shampoo in the European market in 1997. At the very same time, British television viewers could see the 'Friends' star acting as the punchline in a commercial for Lynx deodorant. Guardian advertising columnist Robert Campbell concluded that, "Aniston must have a very good agent because that's somewhat scandalous of her to simultaneously appear in ads for two brands at once." Little did he know what her future would hold.
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