Celebrity endorsements have been a feature in all types of advertising probably since the beginning of advertising. Maybe it's me but it seems like it's gone to a ridiculous level in the last few years. Wealthy celebrities getting even more wealthy selling us crap we don't often need and some things that we do.
For example, Reese Witherspoon, she seems like a nice lady who brought us classics like Legally Blonde and LB2. Reese has a net worth of a whopping $440 million freaking dollars and she’s hawking credit cards for the morally bankrupt Wells Fargo Bank. Why would she take money she doesn't need from such a corrupt organization? Or, let's take Will Ferrell, a favorite comedic actor of mine who does a terribly annoying PayPal commercial. Specifically his terrible rendition of Fleetwood Mac's “ I want to be with you everywhere”. I guess Will can justify it better than Reese because his net worth is only $160 million dollars. C’mon Will, if you're going to sell your soul to these corporate demons at least bring on the funny versus the obnoxious.
I could go on and on with examples of fabulously wealthy Celebrities of all stripes, acting, sports etc. who are making bank that they can probably get by without. So how does this affect me/you?
If I should choose to purchase a product or service a celebrity has seductively convinced me to purchase then I have actively chosen to abet the obscene wealth gap we are experiencing in the US today. Our wealth inequity is on par with Mexico while our own wealth gap is getting close to pre 1929 depression levels. Beyond that, when these already very comfortable rich celebs (Celebigarch”s?) suck up more and more of the advertising dollars it less jobs available for the not famous commercial actors who don't have millions in the bank and could probably use the gig.
I realize these wealthy Celebs aren't totally to blame for these terrible statistics but they are a good example of most of the financial benefits going to the people who need it least.
What does it say about us that just putting a celebrity's face on a product makes the masses want it and actually paying more for the product to further feather celebrity nest eggs.
So what do we do about this? The easiest answer is stop buying crap that celebrities tell us to buy. Maybe go directly to the Celebs via social media etc. and ask nicely to stop. Maybe some prominent star will see the light and start a “We don't need the money” campaign. It's worth a try.
