We're big in to celebrity news around this office, or at least us women are. The entertainment section of the paper is the first to be read each afternoon, and the recent cheating scandals of Hollywood were hot topics for gossip around the lunch table. And that's how we can understand the power of a celebrity when it comes to endorsing your product or brand.

Celebrity endorsements are everywhere you look in the modern market. Catherine Zeta-Jones has recently become synonymous with T-Mobile, while Britney Spears was once well known for her promotional run with Pepsi. What about Jamie Lee Curtis and her recent commercials for Activia, the probiotic yogurt that keeps you regular? No product, brand or service is off-limits when it comes to star endorsement. Insurance companies do it, clothing companies do it, weight-loss companies do it, and all with quite a measure of success.

Celebrity endorsements give a brand a touch of glamor and offer name recognition even when product recognition is lacking. A celebrity's fame, lifestyle or values attached to your company may also reflect on to your own brand, and if all else fails, publicity for them means publicity for your brand.

But we're all aware of the drawbacks. Tiger Woods was dropped from the majority of his endorsement deals when his sex scandals broke the news. Most of the companies he was affiliated with wouldn't touch him as his new, very public, lifestyle harshly contrasted with the ideals of their own brands. Nike's damage control could only do so much.

The wrong celebrity endorsement can backfire and leave you scrambling dealing with damage control. But if done right (such as collaboration with the right celeb) awareness and demand for your product or brand are sure to sky rocket as high as Lady Gaga's last record sales.

Here are a few commercials offering celebrity endorsement. I personally prefer the subtlety of the first Adidas commercial, that and the fact that it features David Beckham eye-candy
Is there one you find more successful than others?