Orman in demand due to financial crisis, but some see conflicts

Suzanne Vranica and Stephanie Kang of The Wall Street Journal take a look Friday at the growing popularity of Suze Orman, who has a personal finance show on CNBC, in the wake of the current economic crisis, but note that she has some conflicts of interest by doing advertising.

Vranica and Kang write, “Ms. Orman says it isn’t a conflict for her to do ads since she typically doesn’t make stock picks. (James Cramer of CNBC, perhaps her biggest rival in popularity, does make such picks, and doesn’t do commercial endorsements.)

“Moreover, she says she tries to avoid endorsement deals because she doesn’t want to encourage people to spend money. One area she won’t touch: financial services and banking. (Ms. Orman does have business relationships with some financial companies. For example, in one of her books, she promoted a special savings account offer designed especially for her readers by TD Ameritrade. Ms. Orman says she wasn’t paid for that arrangement.)

“‘We have been approached by everyone — ING, Wells Fargo and HSBC. They are great companies, but in the best interest of Suze, we have a blanket rule: no banking endorsements,’ says Kathy Travis, managing director of brand innovation for Suze Orman Media Inc.”

Read more here.