P.
Diddy
Shawn “P. Diddy” Combs was
born in 1970. Previously known as “Puffy” for
the way he puffed his chest out to look bigger when he played
high school football,
he
became not only a musician but also a record producer and an
entrepreneur with his own clothing line.
Along with Jessica
Simpson and Vanessa Williams, P. Diddy became a spokesperson
for Proactiv Solution, a skin product that says
it will “banish their breakouts and get them on the path
to clear, beautiful, star-quality skin.” He states that
he has used the product for the past six years in order to “moisturize
my situation and preserve my sexy.”
Diddy also has an
endorsement with Pepsi. In a commercial that aired during
the Super Bowl, the trendsetter is stranded on
the way to an awards show and asks a Pepsi driver who’s
passing by to give him a ride to the ceremony. When other
celebrities see him arrive at the event in a Pepsi truck,
they want one
as well. At the end of the commercial, we see Carson Daly
of MTV driving a Pepsi truck and waving to P. Diddy — who
wonders what’s going on.
The Problem
Months after P. Diddy’s ads began running, it was reported
that he started experiencing skin breakouts. He stated that
it made him look foolish to have bumps on his skin while
using Proactiv. It was then reported that he filed a $1.5
million
lawsuit against Guthy-Renker, the makers of Proactiv, for
failing to leave his skin with no bumps.
Shortly after this,
Guthy-Renker filed a countersuit, claiming that P. Diddy’s
skin was getting bumps because he was drinking Diet Pepsi,
which contains aspartame and other ingredients
that neutralize the effects of skin-care products. A doctor
then stated that aspartame also has proven to increase appetite,
especially sweets, which also are bad for the skin.
Fact or
Fiction?
After a time, there were stories on the Internet that stated
that P. Diddy had not really sued the company; it was a hoax.
A representative of Guthy-Renker said that P. Diddy continues
to endorse the product. Stories on the Internet also continued
to tell of the ongoing lawsuit. This makes us wonder — fact
or fiction? Could this event have been a tool to build audience
interest — a marketing tool?
Download
a PDF file of the student handout, P. Diddy. |
