• Los Angeles Times, Wednesday, April 2, 2008 11:45 AM

At recent cheerleading camps across the country, Propel, a unit of Gatorade, sponsored "hydration breaks," handing out "fitness water" after participants exercised. P&G's CoverGirl conducted a makeover tour, showing how to apply lip gloss and other cosmetic products. Skintimate, a unit of S.C. Johnson & Son, sponsored an in-camp cheerleading competition to anoint a "Smooth Moves" champion.

Companies are smart to target cheerleaders, says Marlene Cota, vice president of corporate alliances at Varsity Brands, because they are often the girls others look up to. "If you can hook teens when they're young, you have a customer for a lifetime," points out Matt Britton, chief of brand development at Mr. Youth, a marketing firm.

But consumer advocates aren't wild about enlisting teens as product promoters. And giving away products can backfire when people have a bad experience with them. Brooke Morgan, 13, says she received a sample of Suave deodorant but wasn't happy with it. And bad word gets out: Keller Fay Group finds that teens are slightly more likely to dis a product if they don't like it.

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