How Bale's brand rep stacks up as star revisits outburst (AD, TF)

By Nancy Tartaglione

Will Christian Bale's much publicized rant on the set of "Terminator Salvation" have an impact on the films he has coming out this summer? That's a question addressed by AdAge today in a look at the star's E-Score tracking data.

While a blockbuster such as "Terminator Salvation" could probably market itself on brand-name recognition alone, confidential E-Score Celebrity tracking data obtained by AdAge shows that Bale's public image may be of little help to the PR and marketing of the film.

Last year, prior to the UK premiere of "The Dark Knight," the actor was arrested for allegedly assaulting his mother. The charges were later dismissed and the film's box office didn't seem to suffer as a result. But the audio of a four-minute profanity-laden tirade that surfaced online in February was headline news that became fodder for parody by everyone from "The Family Guy" to "The Colbert Report." A remixed version streamed 3.2 million times on YouTube.

Ten days after the audio scandal, an E-Score Marketing poll on Bale's image showed the actor had a total awareness of only 47%, with 51% of respondents able to recognize his name and 42% able to recognize his face. A third of those surveyed described him as "aggressive"; one in five said they had at least some "dislike" for Bale, describing him as "mean" and "rude," AdAge reports.

One head of marketing at a rival studio said of Bale's negative PR: "It doesn't hurt as much as it would if he were playing a romantic lead, but it's still disruptive."

So while brand "Terminator" may not take any hits, what do E-Score data mean for brand Bale?

According to AdAge, the most recent celebrity attributes report conducted by Davie Brown Entertainment shows that Bale ranks higher than Hugh Jackman on an index designed to give marketers a way to quantify how celebrities' attributes influence consumers' brand affinity and purchase intent. AdAge reports that overall, Bale scored a 68.66 on a 100-point scale, two points higher than Jackman's 66.81.

But a closer look shows Jackman rates far higher in "appeal" than Bale. Bale is also less-trusted, scoring only 57.41, compared with Jackman's 66.21, and, as a result, is also considered to be a less effective spokesman for a product.

Universal, Warner's and Bale's own spokeswoman declined to comment to AdAge. But privately, studio and PR executives said the star and his team feel the issue of his outburst has been dealt with, and that no changes will be made to the publicity plan for either of his summer films.

Mike Sitrick, the dean of crisis PR, said the degree to which any celebrity bounces back from bad PR depends on how much he or she departed from "living up to expectations."

"When Miley Cyrus posed in clothes that seemed controversial, it was inconsistent with Miley's image," Sitrick told AdAge. "If it had been Madonna or Britney Spears, you wouldn't have batted an eyelash. But was inconsistent with who she was perceived to be."

Meanwhile, Bale recently told Total Film magazine that he "takes the consequences" for what he did on the "Terminator" set, but criticized crew members for recording the incident.

"Hey listen, I did it, it's in the public space. I take the consequences for it. I'm not hiding from that. I went overboard...I'm not making any excuses, but there is an essential trust and it's not a tacit one, which is every sound guy says, 'We are not only not recording, we are not even listening.' So, well, there goes that."

Warner will release "Terminator Salvation" on May 21, while Universal Pictures' "Public Enemies" hits theaters in July.