More companies than ever are hitching their brand to the stars
If this year's Consumer Electronics Show is any indication, geek is officially chic. At the world's biggest celebration of what's hot in the at times insular consumer tech world ? and what's about to be ? celebrities have emerged as a new kind of industry currency. While there might be celebrity attendees slinking around Las Vegas Convention Center's labyrinthine show floors, the most illustrious stars can be found promoting everything from dancing robots to speakers made from bamboo and hemp.This year in Las Vegas, more stars popped out of the marketing woodwork than ever. Early in the week, Sony and Microsoft marched cheerful celebs out onto the stage, infusing the technology show's?two biggest keynotes with a little star power.?Last year, Sony tooled Seth Rogen out on a revolving stage with the tricked-out Chrysler Imperial from the The Green Hornet, but this year the company enlisted both American Idol starlet Kelly Clarkson and actor Will Smith to make a splash. At Microsoft, a rather sedate version of former Idol host Ryan Seacrest shot the breeze with CEO Steve Ballmer as the company rolled out its much buzzed about new Windows phone, the Nokia Lumia 900.
Seacrest and Ballmer
Outside of the major pressers, celebrities dotted vendor booths, sometimes popping up where you'd least expect them. Justin Bieber stirred up a pop culture feeding frenzy for little-known robotics brand Tosy ? and if only for the moment, the brand's otherwise bland dancing robot was hoisted to star status on the show floor. Robots weren't the only new tech riding celebrity coattails: Bob Marley's son was back again promoting reggae-friendly eco audio gear,?rapper 50 Cent was sporting some slick headphones to rival Dr. Dre and Monster's Beats line, and Snooki ??Jersey Shore's pint-sized party animal ? was on hand to endorse iHip's flashy new bling-encrusted cans. Even Justin Timberlake made a cameo to announce the launch of the perhaps ill-fated MySpace TV, in partnership with Panasonic.
Kelly Clarkson
At last year's Consumer Electronics Show, Lady Gaga and Polaroid teamed up to roll out a line of futuristic?high fashion sunglasses that snap photos and project them on dual OLED screens built right into the lens. And rapper T-Pain was lurking around to publicize the "I AM T-Pain" mic, which amusingly auto-tunes your own amateur vocal freestylings so you can sound just like the man himself.While the cutting edge consumer on parade this week in tech might be a magnet for industry veterans, early adopters, and bleary-eyed reporters, many tech companies ? from major brands like Sony to the eminently obscure ? are hoping to hitch their products to a star this year in Las Vegas.
This article originally appeared on Tecca
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