Brands by Bieber

NEWS BRANDS BY BIEBER JustBeats headphones & ear buds ($199.95, $119.95; September 2010) "There's so many kids nowadays that are listening to really cheap headphones," says the Beebs in his YouTube promotional video, "and they're not getting the quality that they should be hearing." It's enough to break your heart. Well, now they can have that quality-assuming they're willing to save up their allowance for a few months. Bieber's minute-long YouTube pitch-heavy with shots of Dr. Dre, the real cred behind this audio gear-stood at 354,626 views at press time. If you're old enough to remember Dionne Warwick plug- ging the Psychic Friends Network or Eric Estrada hawking swampland retirement property in Florida, you know that the brand-endorsement business used to be the domain of C-list celebs, not A-listers at the height of their careers. Well, no longer. The proof: a 16-year-old Canadian kid named Justin something. Currently at or near the apogee of his fame, Justin Bieber went on an endorsement tear late last year and has been slapping his name on everything from headphones to nail polish ever since. Hold on-nail polish? "This stuff makes sense to his core audience, so there's nothing completely off-brand for him," says David Reeder, vp of L.A. talent agency GreenLight. "[And] the taboo's been bro- ken; celebrities are less concerned about doing commercials than they were in the past." OK, but given Bieber's current worth of $100 million, it's not like the kid needs the money. So why all the product endorsements now? Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, didn't call us back, but some of the answer may lie in the singer's Q Score-the standard numeric index of a celebrity's popularity. "What I suspect is that Justin may not have as long a potential as [some would] like," says Q Score's president Steve Levitt, citing Bieber's positive Q of 36 percent with the 6-11 age bracket and, even worse, a mere 20 percent among 12-17-year-olds. That's right, folks, more people loathe the cherub-faced mop top than like him. And for watchers like Levitt, that means one thing: "If you're going to sell something, you'd better hurry up." Here's a roundup of brands riding the Biebster's coattails. jusibe Justin Bieber Snack Pack pudding (Reportedly in negotiation now) Is America ready for a violet-colored snack? Word got out in late December that Bieber (whose favorite color is purple) was cooking up his own flavor of pudding (our vision of it appears below) for Snack Pack. When we asked for comment, parent company ConAgra first denied the rumor-and then retracted its denial. "At this time," a spokesperson finally wrote us, "we do not have anything to announce." Guess we'll just stick with the chocolate for now. Proactiv acne cream ($19.95 for three bottle "system"; August 2010) "We did it because the kid uses it," Bieber's manager told Billboard this summer of the endorsement deal reportedly worth $3 million over two years. Bieber is the latest celeb who endorses the anti-zit cream, which has also signed the likes of Alicia Keys and Jessica Simpson. The first day Bieber's endorsement video hit YouTube, 125,000 people watched it. MADE WIUN REAL CACAO ACA BERSES Sgack * DARK CHOCOLATE * ANTIOXIDANTS * VITAMINS * MINERALS * CALCIUM * AMINO ACIDS * PROTEIN Y FIBER LOADED WITH ANTIOXIDANTS! -Robert Klara Ko 4-35 02 CUPS (NET WT 14 02) 397g Rodan & Fields One Less Lonely Girl nail polish ($7.99; December 2010, with ongoing releases) Does Bieber wear nail polish? Seemingly not, but his overwhelm- ingly female fan base led to many retail locations selling out of these lacquers from Nicole by OPI. With song-inspired names like "Baby" Blue" and "One Time Lime," the bottles lack Bieber's name, but his face is on point-of-purchase displays and in teen-mag print ads. OPI has pledged a portion of sales to a school charity. And Justin's cut? "Sorry, no comment," says the company rep. proactiv. SOLUTION Justin Bieber Silly Bandz ($5.99; September 2010) Already a $100 million toy empire, Silly Bandz maker BCP Imports teamed with Bieber (who purportedly approached them) to produce a pack of these bafflingly popular stretchy bracelets in shapes includ- ing a musical note and a baseball cap. Now in over 30,000 stores, the bands "have done extremely well," company founder Robert Croak told us. Best of all, the ad budget was zero. "Between Justin's Facebook and Twitter following and ours," Croak said, "you just push a button." Clear Purifying Mask non-comedogenic My World scented dog tags and wristbands ($10; December 2010) Dog tags used to smell like sweaty soldiers; now they smell like Bieber (well, the tags waft "top notes of bergamot, lychee and pomegranate," per the press release). Employing what one blogger called a "super cool patented resin technology to hold the fragrance," the goods debuted at Walmart on Black Friday. Sales-predicted at launch time to hit $75 million-are "brisk" per a company rep. JUSTIN BIEBER MY WORLD sulfur acne treatment 1FL OZ 30ML JUSTIN BIEBER MY WORLD Vemis a Ongles Esmalte de U Nagei My World MY WC AUSTIN BIEBER Biber DEGO CTY N my world Justin Bieber 10 | ADWEEKMEDIA | 1.17.2011 1.17.2011 | ADWEEKMEDIA | 1 CLIFF WATTS/ ICON INTERNATIONAL