Endorse this

There’s a very important class that famous people take.

You probably don’t know about it because you have to be famous before you’re allowed in the Circle of Lust. I only know about it because I know a famous guy who got drunk and let it slip one night. Screw sodium pentathol. Give me a little Patron and I am Colonel Klink.

Once a person gets a million views on You Tube, appears more than once on TMZ.com, or wins eight gold medals in one year, they are ushered into a small room where they are shown a video hosted by Tiger Woods. It’s pretty short, but very effective. I received a transcript from my drunk celebrity friend. It goes like this.

Hi. My name is Tiger Woods. If you don’t spend as much time seeking endorsements as you do honing the craft that made you famous, you might as well go back to showing your vagina when you get out of limousines or acting in shows with David Spade. Get as many endorsement deals as you can, pile the money in your panic room (you don’t have one yet?), and hope you can stay famous long enough to buy a Bentley. Otherwise, you’re wasting this whole celebrity thing. Buy Nike. Woods out.

Word on the street is Michael Phelps’ managers have forced him into a second viewing and asked him to stop negotiating with ROOR guys immediately.

I don’t see there being much chance of me being famous for anything other than eating things I shouldn’t and the endorsement deals in that area of expertise are not all they are cracked up to be. I don’t really want a lifetime supply of blue Keno crayons.

Nonetheless, I spend about 20 seconds a day thinking about the things I would want to endorse if I should accidentally end up getting famous in a Rogaine commercial. With that in mind, here are a few products I would not want to lose.

  • Bose QC3 headphones
  • Nikon digital SLR(s)
  • 3G iPhone
  • Netflix
  • WordPress
  • Ecco shoes
  • Pretty mundane stuff, I know, but the above are things I use more than anything else I own. For me to have a chance of endorsing any of those products, I’m going to have to do more than star in a couple of silly You Tube videos.

    This post, more than anything, was an excuse for me to talk about a few things that have recently become essentials for me. Maybe I can get famous enough that I can pimp these things for money. Then again, I like them so much I’d probably do it for free. In fact, I will more than likely turn this into a regular feature here on RER: Endorse this: Stuff somebody famous really should be endorsing.

  • Guitar Toolkit iPhone app–The fact that my iPhone can act as a better guitar tuner than my guitar tuner can (and do more) makes it my favorite iPhone app on the market.
  • Clif Bars–I don’t know how I went this long without discovering Clif Bars. Pauly and Change bailed me out of a hunger pit a couple of times with spare Clif Bars. Yesterday, I bought 20 of them to resupply the stock of 20 I bought a couple of weeks ago.
  • The Fugitive Peace by Russ Brown–I met Russ a few years back. I knew I would like his album, but I didn’t expect it to keep growing on me after ten or so listens. If you’re a roots, Americana, alt-country guy, Russ is a good buy.
  • Canon PowerShot Elph–After lugging around big camera rigs for the past four or five years, I finally got me a little pocket camera to replace my old Olympus. This was another Pauly recommendation and yet another good one. I haven’t put it through the big trials yet, but I’ve seen what Pauly’s can do and am happy with it (he even shot this highlight reel of our time in Argentina with it–last ten seconds have NSFW audio). Below is me screwing around with the thing with no flash before I went to sleep last night).
  • nightstand2nightstand

    Buy Nike. Otis out.

    Brad Willis

    Brad Willis is a writer based in Greenville, South Carolina. Willis spent a decade as an award-winning broadcast journalist. He has worked as a freelance writer, columnist, and professional blogger since 2005. He has also served as a commentator and guest on a wide variety of television, radio, and internet shows.

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    6 Responses

    1. Mean Gene says:

      Let’s see, I’m wearing my Bose headphones at the moment, my digital Elph is sitting on my desk (I have the exact same model), I use WordPress for both my personal and work blogs, I love my iPhone as I might love a first-born child, and I caught up with “The Wire” through my Netflix queue.

      I’m a Canon guy though I’m sure Nikon is quite nice. But no love for Ecco?

    2. Pauly says:

      Did ECCO drop you from their endorsement team in favor of Johnny Lodden?

      I love the ELPH.

      Clif Bars are amazing hunger supplements. I lived off of them (and Vicodin) at the WSOP last summer.

    3. Sean D says:

      Trust me, I’m in R*dio and endorsements are your bread and butter. Discounted Cable? Natch! Endorse a food restaurant for free lunch on Wednesdays? Natch! There is nothing better than to sell your soul … is there?

      Seriously, I think that endorsements is the true SWAG! That is if you get pulled into the room and get to see Tiger.

      BTW, the version I saw had tiger talking to me after he appeared in the Mike Douglas show. Have I dated myself?

    4. otis says:

      Gene and Pauly…so right. You know I helped found the Church of Ecco. I couldn’t let my omission stand. I put Ecco on the list. In fact, I’m going to buy some more this weekend!

    5. Maudie says:

      iPhone – check; Elph – check; Clif bars – back when I was employed: stashed in desk drawer; Bose headphones – on the “When I’m Employed Again” list; guitar tool-kit app – downloading now!

      M. Out.

      8^)

    6. Gugel says:

      You ranked 37th for the top 100 poker blogs. Congrats 🙂
      http://www.anskypoker.com/2009/04/top-100-poker-blogs-of-2009/