Over the years, The Chiropractic Journal (TCJ) has featured a number of stories about doctors with celebrity patients. From Dr. Mike Foudy's work with the famed 1999 U.S. Women's Soccer team to Dr. Tania Messina Howard's on-the-set care of stars such as David Copperfield, Gene Hackman and Dennis Franz, these celebrities-who-use-chiropractic stories are always popular with TCJ readers.

But celebrity patients are also a public relations boon to chiropractic, since they often serve as role models to the general public. When people learn that famous movie actors and record- breaking athletes make chiropractic a part of their health care, they are more open to the idea of incorporating it into their own life as well.

"Chiropractic First," by Terry A. Rondberg, D.C., and "Chiropractic Works!" by Timothy Feuling, are both best-selling chiropractic patient education books containing extensive lists of public figures who have been known to use chiropractic.

"We knew from these books," Dr. Rondberg said, "that people are interested in what celebrities think about chiropractic. And we know also that many of these celebrities are eager to help promote healthy lifestyles, including chiropractic care."

That realization has led the World Chiropractic Alliance to begin a "celebrity search" campaign to find doctors who have famous entertainers, politicians, athletes, authors and other celebrities as patients. The plan is to invite them to work with the World Chiropractic Alliance on a PR program that incorporates celebrity endorsements.

The campaign will feature celebrity "endorsements" of chiropractic care, focusing in particular on those who understand the need for subluxation-based wellness care.

"Celebrity marketing will help us get the public's attention," Rondberg explained. An article in The Cyber-Journal of Sport Marketing, ("The State of Celebrity Endorsement in Sport" by Amy Dyson and Douglas Turco) backs him up.

One advantage of celebrity-based campaigns, the article noted, is that "famous people hold the viewer's attention. In this era of sound-bytes and channel surfing, there is a demand for people's time and focus. For instance, a commercial with the WNBA's Lisa Leslie or NHL's Wayne Gretzky is more likely to keep a television remote control clicker on the channel versus a commercial with a local doctor or dentist. People want to see Andre Agassi and others of such celebrity."

The campaign might be particularly important in light of the massive advertising done by pharmaceutical companies.

According to research conducted in 1995, customers are more likely to choose goods and services endorsed by celebrities than those without such endorsements (Agrawal, J & Kamakura, WA, "The economic worth of celebrity endorsers: an event study analysis," Journal of Marketing).

Although the campaign is still in the formation stage, much of the success will depend on the willingness of field doctors to contact the WCA with the names of their famous patients, and to work with the organization to approach these celebrities with the invitation to participate.

"Once we have a good idea of the number of D.C.s willing to help us on this, and the names of the celebrities involved, we'll be able to plan the type of PR campaign that will get the best results," Rondberg stated.