How do we know she is worth it? Well Harvard have just told us. In their latest Business Review they assessed the monetary value Michelle Obama has on the fashion labels she wears. Apparently when Michelle wears something, that company's stock spikes upward, and stores that carry the labels also benefit. From November 2008 to December 2009 Mrs O made 189 public appearances, the total value generated by those appearances for those companies was estimated at $2.7 billion, while they estimate the total value of a single public appearance at $14 million. The bad news is that when you are a competitor to a brand Mrs O wears, you stand to shave half a percent off your value.
Apparently the US First Lady’s astonishing influence may be tied to the fact that consumers know she’s not paid to wear what she does, whereas they may subconsciously discount other endorsements.
And considering Mrs O wears items from African designers every so often, I think that this is very good news — news that will hopefully pay off for our guys.