(FORTUNE Magazine) – Kmart is hoping the April 1 reintroduction of the BlueLight Special to stores across the country will give its stock price an extra glow, and it's trotting out its star endorsers to turn up the wattage. But a look back at the past 20 years shows that, in terms of share price, the celebs can't hold a candle to the Blue-Light itself. Sure, early endorsers Jaclyn Smith and Martha Stewart signed on when the stock was on the rise in the 1980s. But pulling the plug on the venerable gimmick coincided with a steep, decade-long decline in the stock--a drop that neither supermodel Kathy Ireland, comedians Penny Marshall and Rosie O'Donnell--or even Big Bird--could halt. Our advice: Forget about star power, and just pay the electricity bill.

--Brian O'Keefe