Without engagement, the testimonial is not very effective.

The question is: does an unattractive advertisement, with weak copy, still work thanks to the testimonial's fame, or does it not work at all?

The De Cecco campaign with Sinner as the testimonial, despite technical flaws (at least cut it out properly, for heaven's sake!), might work because it's simple, thus requiring low cognitive effort. It conveys few concepts directly, showing that the target audience was well evaluated.

Unfortunately, perceptual analysis disproves the theory that "it works anyway with the right testimonial." It doesn’t work because it completely lacks emotional engagement, and the promised rewards are not clear.

Analyzing the visual, the attentional focus is only 4.1% on the product/brand and 18.8% on the testimonial's face. A very disappointing result.