ACN and Donald Trump – Does Trump REALLY Endorse ACN ?

• Who Is Donald Trump?
• Why Choose Trump To Endorse ACN?
• Quick Celebrity Endorsement Overview
• Is Donald Trump Endorsing ACN Because He Needs The Money?
• Is Donald Trump Endorsing ACN To Boost His Current Image?
• Is Donald Trump Endorsing ACN Because He Needs A New Image?
• Is Donald Trump Endorsing ACN Because He Truly Believes In The Business?
• Does Trump REALLY Endorse ACN?

Donald Trump is one of the most well-recognized billionaires in the world. He is the proud endorser of ACN, a company many regard as a pyramid selling scam. Why is this reputable business giant proclaiming his love for a company which has seemingly conned thousands of people out of their hard earned cash? Is it for the money, or does Trump truly believe in ACN?
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Trump was born in 1946 has made his name and fortune primarily in the real-estate industry. He owns many properties across the United States, such as hotels, holiday resorts and golf courses. Trump has also become somewhat of a celebrity following the success of his television series “The Apprentice”, and recent appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment. All of these activities have made Trump a very rich man, with Forbes estimating his net worth to be $2bn.
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Donald Trump is the ideal person to endorse ACN. He is an incredibly successful entrepreneur, and the majority of his wealth has come from his own hard work and personal business ventures. He is an internationally recognized figure, giving him global appeal.

He represents success, wealth and is a figure of aspiration. ACN are telling you: if you work hard with our company, you can be as successful as Donald Trump.
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Marketers have used celebrities to endorse their brands and businesses for decades. Celebrities are a figure with whom the public can trust and aspire to be like. By using a well known and much loved celebrity, the company is hoping that all positive associations with the celebrity will automatically be passed onto the product.

When celebrities endorse products it’s usually due to one or more of the following factors:

• They need the money
• They need the media exposure
• They need to change their current image
• They truly believe in the product/business

So what’s Donald Trump’s reason for endorsing ACN?

This is a good question. Let’s go through each point before making our mind up.
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ACN claim that their “annual revenues have skyrocketed to over half a billion”  meaning that they do have the resources to pay Trump a large enough figure to make it worth his while. The amount Trump receives is undisclosed, but I am guessing it is in the millions. Considering Trump’s already staggering wealth, an extra million or two probably isn’t enough to entice him to put his name on something he doesn’t believe in. He has his status, image and reputation to consider. If Trump were to endorse a product or business that was shown to be dodgy or fraudulent, he would risk highly damaging his reputation, which could have long term repercussions on his career. The likelihood of Trump endorsing a potentially career ruining company for a few million is quite unlikely.

For example, actress Eva Mendes fronted PETA’s anti-fur campaign “Fur? I’d rather go naked” indicating that no matter how much she was paid, she would not endorse a designer or brand that used animal fur. If she later wore fur because she was paid a high sum, her reputation would go downhill, and she would lose all integrity.

So is Donald Trump simply endorsing ACN for the money? Probably not. No doubt the money does make it an enticing opportunity, but Trump is far from broke, and when much more is at stake, such as his business integrity, money isn’t the most important thing.
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It is very common for a celebrity to start endorsing a brand when they feel the public has started to forget who they are. However this is not the case for Donald Trump. With a new series of “The Apprentice” starting on September 16, and the well publicized new golf resort in Scotland, Trump is still very much a public figure.

He is very much in the public eye, and so he probably has to be cautious of every decision he makes in order to protect his image. One bad choice could negatively effect his public image. Anyone remember David Hasslehoff’s drunken cheeseburger?

Much of Trump’s celebrity image comes from his popular television shows “The Apprentice” and it’s spin off “Celebrity Apprentice”. If the show was to lose credibility , this would inevitably rub off on Trump, who’s image would also decline somewhat.

ACN appeared on Trump’s popular television show “Celebrity Apprentice” in March 2009, in which contestants had to present a sales pitch for the Iris 3000 Videophone in front of ACN reps. ACN and their products played a dominant role in this particular episode, with a large amount of prime airtime dedicated to the company. Allowing a company to have such a strong input on his show is risky. If the company was found to be a scam, the show would loose credibility.

The two shows also help to boost NBC’s ratings. This author assumes that NBC would not allow a controversial company to have such a prominent role in “Celebrity Apprentice” if they thought it could damage the show’s reputation, their ratings, and ultimately their advertising prices.
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Endorsing can be an effective way of changing a celebrity’s public image. For example, a singer trying to escape her squeaky clean image could endorse a heavy liquor.

Donald Trump may be trying to change his public image, which might explain his appearances in the WWE Ring. However, if he is trying to change his image by endorsing ACN then, he really isn’t doing a good job. ACN is a successful business, Donald Trump is a successful businessman. There is a clear congruence between the business and the endorser, and so this endorsement deal makes logical sense.
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Trump has made many promotional material for ACN, such as this video:

More videos can be found here. He claims to truly believe in the product, and in the business model. He trusts the founders (Greg Provenzano, Mike Cubitz, Tony Cubitz and Robert Stevanovski), and thinks of them as great business men, and close friends. Not only does he film promotional material, he is also a regular speaker at ACN conferences/training seminars.

It is entirely possible that Donald Trump is lying, and does not believe these things. Some people have accused Trump of being nothing more than an actor, and is only promoting ACN because he is paid to. It is worth noting, however, that even actors turn down roles that they believe will be detrimental to their career, despite the high salaries on offer.

Given the high level of involvement Trump has with ACN promotions, and what damage could be done to his reputation if this is proved fraudulent, this author does not believe Trump is lying in his promotional material.
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Does Donald Trump really endorse ACN? This author believes so. A powerful, successful man such as Trump would not waste his time and energy promoting a business he did not truly believe in. Sure, he is getting paid, but let’s face it, a couple of million to Trump is probably the equivalent of $50 to me and you. In this scenario, Trump has more to loose than to gain from endorsing ACN (reputation, status, integrity), and so I believe Donald Trump truly believes in ACN, and his endorsement is entirely genuine.
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