By the time he divorced Nicole Brown Simpson in 1992, Hertz was paying Simpson over $500,000 per year to serve as the company’s celebrity spokesperson.
Topline
Before his arrest and high-profile murder trial, O.J. Simpson—who died Wednesday—was the celebrity spokesperson for Hertz rental cars and other huge brands, boosting his income during his NFL career and for over a decade after retiring.Key Facts
Simpson signed his first endorsement deal with General Motors in 1970, before the Heisman winner and Buffalo Bills running back had ever played in an NFL game, receiving $250,000 ($2 million in 2024 dollars after adjusted for inflation) to appear in Chevrolet commercials, Sports Illustrated reported at the time.
Simpson signed his first deal with Hertz Corporation in 1974 as part of a $12.6 million advertising campaign—he told the New York Times the rental car company paid him “between $100,000 and $250,000” shortly after the deal was inked (about $670,000 to $1.6 million in 2024 adjusted for inflation).
Simpson later signed as the chief spokesperson for TreeSweet orange juice—a tie-in with his nickname “the Juice”—in a five-year contract for over $1 million plus a percentage of sales, according to the New York Times.
The Hertz campaign, which portrayed Simpson as the “Superstar in Rent‐a‐Car,” was wildly successful for the rental car company—Hertz posted net profits 47% higher in 1976 after the ubiquitous ad campaign launched, the New York Times reported that year.
