Here are the results of this year's Video Storyboard
consumer survey of the top 10 celebrity endorsers: (1) Cindy
Crawford; (2) Candice Bergen; (3) Bill Cosby; (4) Elizabeth
Taylor; (5) Jerry Seinfeld; (6) Whitney Houston; (7) Shari
Belafonte; (8) June Allyson; (9) Chevy Chase; and (10) Cybill
Shepard. Gone from the list are Cher, Kathie Lee Gifford, Regis
Philbin, Burt Reynolds, Susan Lucci, Sally Struthers, and Ray
Charles. David Vadehra, Video Storyboard President: "There are
so many endorsers these days that no one has a chance to last
very long." The complete listing of SPORTS STARS was not
included in this morning's WALL STREET JOURNAL, but reporter
Kevin Goldman notes that Michael Jordan and Nancy Kerrigan hold
the top two slots, and that George Foreman has entered in at the
(9) position. Larry Bird, Joe Montana, Chris Evert, and Jimmy
Connors have all dropped off the list (Kevin Goldman, WALL STREET
JOURNAL, 10/19). Look for complete list of sports stars later
this week in THE SPORTS BUSINESS DAILY.
FOREMAN IS "A BANKABLE STAR": According to a profile by
Mark Starr in NEWSWEEK, George Foreman is again a true star in
heavyweight boxing -- "once boxing's glamour division," but now
"like an outtake from 'Cocoon.'" When he meets 26-year-old
Michale Moorer on November 5, the 45-year-old "Foreman will be
the oldest man ever -- at least by official records -- to fight
for the heavy weight championship." Seth Abraham, president of
Time Warner Sports, which will broadcast the fight on HBO:
"There's boxing as great sport and boxing as great theatre. This
is boxing as theatre, and George Foreman is the one heavyweight
who's a bankable star" (NEWSWEEK, 10/24 issue).