To put it mildly, fuck Connelly!
Are you trying to say that a guy like Connelly drives more credibility to his products than an athlete like Dorian Yates does?
I'm going to hate myself for even responding to this, but YES! A qualified MD with 30+ years of experience in dealing with the human metabolism does much more for building consumer brand confidence than a genetic freak pumped full gear. I won't even get into the rationale for this from a marketing standpoint. I'll just let the numbers do the talking. MET-Rx, while owned by Connelly was a $100+ million dollar company. The Dorian Yates approved company has never exceeded $10 million in annual sales.
In fact, NONE of the supplement companies started by former pros (Labrada, Gaspari, Dillet, etc.) has ever surpassed the revenues attained by MET-Rx. Interestingly, after Connelly sold the brand it has completely tanked.
FYI, we did extensive consumer research at many of the companies I worked with (not just MET-Rx) on the value of using pro body building males/females as product endorsers. The results were always consistent. Female body builders caused a major negative reaction across all consumer segments. Male bodybuilders were well perceived by young male teenagers and negatively perceived by most men/women in the 18-49 age range.
Hope that helps.