Celebrity endorsements

I dont think it's automatic that an endorsed product is garbage. Les Stroud started working with Helle to design the temagami because he supposedly found a Helle knife on the ground while in the Canadian wilderness (temagami). Who knows if that happened or if it's marketing, but it appears to be a fine knife that is well designed. I also don't doubt that the woodlore is a fine knife. How about Mors and the skookum bush tool? I think that collaberation knives with knowledgeable outdoorsmen can be very good. On the other hand I think some of the recent offerings from gerber and camillus are obviously designed by the companies and they slap Bear Grylls name or whoever on them. I don't know why as a celebrity you would allow a company to put your name on a crappy product. I don't personally own any of the knives, But I do own lots of moras and opinels because of celebrity endorsement. When I was younger and didn't know what to buy.... Ray mears and Mors used opinel and mora..... so, I used them too.
 
It is all about the quality of the knife and not what name is on it. I really do not care for most endorsed knives, especially the Bear Grylls considering he does not use that knife instead he uses his custom fixed blade which I believe is somewhere around the $400 range or more. It is about the product not name of a person or brand name even though brand names help but they become brand names by having quality products in the first place.
 
I also agree with a previously made statement that these cheap endorsed knives are just that.... Cheap, and for the "masses." We here are a niche market that will pay proper money for a good tool, but most "normal" people will just pick up the $20 special at wal-mart before a camping trip. These cheap/plastic knives are marketed towards those people who mostly watch TV and go on the occasional camping trip.

I think it's irrelevant that the celebrity does not use the knife, I wouldn't use a $30 plastic knife and don't expect Bear Grylls to either. If all I had was $30 I would buy something else anyways, but these are available to a large number of people by chain stores. Why would I eat mc donalds over a juicy ribeye steak? Convenience!!! I think the point of some of these knives is to be better cheap alternatives to whats out there at the price point. Not to be the best survival tool in the world.

A cheap product is still a cheap product no matter whos name is on it.
 
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leghog said:
Would I buy a brand of toilet paper because a celebrity endorsed it? No.

Why would I buy a knife because a celebrity endorsed it?
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don't quite think it's marketed the same way... there's no reality shows about surviving in a bathroom.
 
rustyrazor said:
don't quite think it's marketed the same way... there's no reality shows about surviving in a bathroom.
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Marketing products is marketing products. Developed solely to separate you from your money.

Consider products with different names/brands, from the same production facilities, but marketed separately and often differently. Same product. Different name. Marketed separately. Same goal in mind -- to sell you something you may or may not need but with their name on it.
 
Personally, I think I'm knowledgeable enough to judge a knife's quality without depending on whose name is on it.

Celebrity endorsement is a global phenomenon, certainly not limited to knives. There's Jordan Burroughs wrestling gear; in my football infected country you can sell anything with Messi's face on it and so on.

I've never bought a knife, or anything else for that matter, solely based on a celebrity endorsement. But if I like the product, I don't mind somebody making a buck by slapping his name on it.

When it comes to knives, I think celebrities like Bear Grylls can have a somewhat positive influence on some people. A few guys I know who never carried knives or tools, are now EDCing those Gerbers. It's a step in the right direction. Some of them will be happy with their purchase, others will want to move up to something nicer.
 
I think of them as gateway products for the masses that might lead a few to more quality products and customs. I think it is a good thing for knife builders. No I would not in the majority of cases purchase one for myself or recommend them.
 
leghog said:
Marketing products is marketing products. Developed solely to separate you from your money.

Consider products with different names/brands, from the same production facilities, but marketed separately and often differently. Same product. Different name. Marketed separately. Same goal in mind -- to sell you something you may or may not need but with their name on it.
Click to expand...

exactly... these "experts" are paid to lend their name to a product to help sell it largely based on their merit as well known experts in their field. Stroud and Grylles both lend their name to these as a marketing ploy to sell more knives, and that is well known by any knife aficionado. Most everyone on here know that these aren't "high quality" instruments... and we aren't their intended audience. that being said, my point was that there are no television shows marketing the value of toilet paper by experts in that field so there is hardly a comparison between the two so your point was hard to follow.
 
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