Quote:
Originally Posted by kaplods
No, companies pay celebrities to endorse their products BECAUSE society cares what celebrities do.
If we taught our children to not care, to not be celebrity or brand conscious, companies would be wasting their money.
Celebrities are walking endorsements because we care. Chihuahua breeders didn't pay Paris Hilton to carry her mini dog around in her purse as a fashion accessory, and yet it triggered a small dog fad of such proportion that animal shelters around the country are overflowing with the cast-offs when the fun of the fad has worn off.
Celebrities are people, sometimes very flawed people - often stupid, selfish, self-destructive people who just happen to have a talent our society deems worthy of emulating. That we want to emulate singers, fashion icons, sports stars and not scientists, doctors, and teachers, that's our culture's fault not companies or advertising.
We transmit those values to our children, advertising just takes advantage of our skewed priorities and reinforce what has already been taught.
This. 1000 times this ^^^
I can't tell you how many of my 8th graders think they're going to be the next Kobe Bryant, Buster Posey, Kanye West, or god forbid, a Kardashian!
The advertising industry doesn't create celebrity worship, ignorance and lack of values creates celebrity worship. Teach your kids to admire people who MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD, not people who happen to make money because they have a talent that sells.
I'm sure Beyonce is a fantastic person. She's certainly a great singer. However, she's done nothing with her life that I'm aware of to make me want my teen daughter admiring her. Is she working on a cure for cancer? Is she feeding children in 3rd world countries? Is she finding homes for orphans of war? Does she rush into burning buildings to save lives? Those are the people I've taught my kids to admire. Appreciating someone's talent (eg, singing voice or ability to play basketball) is different from admiring the PERSON.
That being said, for the time being we still live in a capitalist economy and as far as I'm concerned Beyonce can sell herself however she wants. She doesn't owe me, you, or the entire African American community anything. People who think she does are living under a victim mentality. Sure, you're a victim of Beyonce's greed because you're weak minded enough to drink Pepsi because Beyonce thinks it's cool. Get a grip and teach your kids some critical thinking skills!!!
*stepping off soapbox now*