Celebrity Credentials
Submitted by Julie on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 12:30
In America we are accustomed to celebrity endorsements of products. From internet service providers and food items to shoes and lean mean fat-reducing grilling machines, celebrity images are plastered all over the things we buy and use every day. It seems harmless enough. It's a way for the already famous to make some extra money and the ploy at this point is so transparent that it hardly seems manipulative. Everybody already knows that these people are paid for their images, and it seems that few consumers actually buy something based solely on the famous face who endorses it. But a somewhat disturbing new trend has started in which famous celebrities are becoming not just promoters of products, but (purportedly) creators as well. At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event, Polaroid announced that their new “creative director and inventor of specialty projects” would be pop mega-star Lady GaGa.
While a quick internet search proves Lady GaGa has an interesting background and an education in the arts, it is unclear what exactly qualifies her to be director of and invent products for a company known for their cameras. Granted, one could say Lady GaGa is certainly creative, inventive, and has experience in front of a camera lens, but wasn't there a time when people responsible for directing branches of companies and inventing products actually had some kind of education and experience in the field? Another example that is less of a stretch is Lindsay Lohan's upcoming clothing line, or the tons of celebrities who have “formulated” their own perfumes. These kinds of deals are a step above the celebrity endorsement because they blur the line between fame and competence.
For the sake of this example, say Lady GaGa was named creative director and inventor of new vehicles for a car company like Toyota. Would you trust pop star Lady GaGa to implement all the crucial safety features needed into a car you use to drive your loved ones, possibly your children around in every day? What about a celebrity doctor? Would you trust Rihanna to perform surgery on your bum knee? My guess is that these types of involvements with celebrities are not actually what they are implied to be. Is Lady GaGa really going to spend any time drawing up concepts and piecing together electronics to create the next greatest thing from Polaroid? Doubtful. There will likely be a team of experienced professionals designing products from top to bottom while Lady GaGa wields a stamp of pop-culture approval or throws in aesthetics-related input from time to time. This group of practiced professionals is probably wondering the same thing I am. What the hell does Lady GaGa know about cameras?
But if this is really how these celebrity deals work, why bother naming the superstars as creators and inventors when they're no more than glorified product endorsers. Does Polaroid really expect the public to trust in Lady GaGa's technical prowess more than in a studied engineer's? The only options are that these arrangements are outright lies or just bad ideas. I trust Lady GaGa's ability and training to create catchy, crafty pop music, but I don't trust her to make my camera or fix my car. And I want to buy bread from a baker, not a plumber.
Read More
Lady Gaga Gets Inventive as New Face of Polaroid, People
Polaroid wants to ride on Lady GaGa's coat-tails, Sydney Morning Herald
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Interesting post! I think
Interesting post! I think I'm more on the "outright lies" side of the fence on this topic. Maybe these arrangements aren't outright lies, but I'd say they're definitely a little silly. I really don't see Lady GaGa coming in to work at Polaroid every day and perfoming what I can only imagine is the very involved and complex role of creative director, even if it's only for a line of specialty products. I imagine it won't be much more than just a few meetings with her to brainstorm some ideas and put her name on them. It could be more than that, but somehow I doubt it.
I don't think this kind of arrangement is necessarily bad though, and if it is more transparent and honest, I think it can actually be really good. The example I thought of was Emma Watson, the actress who plays Hermione in the Harry Potter films. She has become really interested in fashion over the past few years and is working on a spring fashion line with People Tree, a fair-trade fashion company. She's definitely not claiming to be their new creative director or anything like that, and it's not a household-name brand like Polaroid, so it's not really a publicity stunt either. I guess I'm bringing up this example to show that it can be nice to see a young celebrity who is able to use her status in order to branch out into other interests. I think I remember reading that Watson wasn't sure she wanted to continue with acting for the rest of her career, so maybe she even has a future in fashion design.
I can see this from both
I can see this from both points of view. On one hand, celebrities certainly have access to more money/opportunities than most. I agree they would probably be doing little of the actual "designing" or "creating" of any type of product. On the other hand, I would imagine it would tempting for an organization to associate itself with a "celebrity" to gain publicity. Ultimately, I think it's up to the consumer to gather information and research any product before buying/investing. And if the only reason they're getting something is because so and so celebrity is behind it, well, then, I can't say I would have much sympathy for them if what they purchased turned out to be not what they expected.
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