New console launches and celebrity name dropping

In addition to announcing retail availability of component cables for Wii, Nintendo VP of Marketing and Corporate Affairs Perrin Kaplan also did a little celebrity name dropping in a recent interview with CVG. When asked what the exec thought of Wii's launch prospects, Kaplan had this to say: "We have people calling here to make sure they can get it, you know, P. Diddy, Uma Thurman, people that just have got to get their hands on [Wii]..."

While this isn't the first time celebrity pimping has been used to drum up publicity to pitch new consoles, it makes us wonder how effective the strategy actually is. Don't get us wrong, citing the famous that already garner "free" publicity is an excellent way to get the word out, but how many units does celebrity name dropping move in reality? I guess enough to have the trend continue.

Oh, and Perrin - not trying to hate - it's just Diddy now (as of August 2005). Jaboy!