"US brands spent more than $1 billion on securing top celebrities to feature in their ads in 2025, surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to a report published Monday by XR, an advertising operations platform that tracks campaigns and talent compensation. Spending on pay guarantees - the upfront cost to secure top talent to appear in ads rather than hourly rates - grew 47% since 2019, per XR."
""When you have cross-platform media and lots of different ways to consume series, videos, and now sports across different streaming platforms, celebrities, known faces, and recognizable talent just break through, and they resonate with audiences," McKenna said. Additionally, he said, appearing in ads has become less of a taboo among the celebrity class than it was in decades past."
"The increasing use of recognizable faces reflects a shift in how advertisers operate. Chief marketing officers are under increased pressure to demonstrate the effectiveness of their advertising amid a protracted period of macroeconomic uncertainty. Celebrities can be seen as a safe bet when it comes to metrics like ad recall - a measure in surveys that determines whether people remember seeing an ad."
US brands spent more than $1 billion on top celebrities for ad campaigns in 2025, exceeding pre-pandemic levels tracked by XR. Spending on pay guarantees — upfront fees to secure talent appearances — rose 47% since 2019. The rise reflects marketers' preference for recognizable faces across multiple platforms to improve metrics such as ad recall. Chief marketing officers face heightened pressure to demonstrate advertising effectiveness amid prolonged macroeconomic uncertainty. A decade ago, a larger share of talent budgets went to non-celebrity actors, but that balance has reversed. High-profile events like the Super Bowl illustrated the trend through numerous celebrity appearances.
Read at Business Insider
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]