Can We Trust Celebrity Endorsements? | Part Three

Welcome back!

Over the past few years, the influence that bloggers and You Tuber’s have on society has increased dramatically. The rising success that a lot of them have seen could be viewed as not only overwhelming but also slightly frightening. Many of them went from blogging and making videos as a hobby, to now viewing it as their full time job, collaborating with multiple big name brands on a daily basis. As a person who runs a fairly new blog, I am of course envious of these people who have hit a point where they can make huge sums of money through simply writing and talking about their interests. I do feel though, that honesty becomes a rarity when people hit this level of Internet fame. If you’re being offered a lot of money to discuss lets say a new skincare range from a particularly well-known brand, you’re naturally going to be expected to speak positively about them. In reality though, these influencers could rave about said products and then never use them, but that is a side of it we as viewers will never know the truth about. Very rarely will a brand collaborate with a blogger or You Tuber and not tell them certain things that have to be mentioned such as any offers the brand is running at that time. Due to this, I feel there is a definite lack of passion, sometimes almost coming across as robotic, like they can’t actually express their own honest opinion. As a result, whenever I watch a brand orientated video or read a blog post, I take whatever that particular influencer is saying with a pinch of salt which is unnerving as so many people go to their channels or websites for supposedly honest opinions. 

An example of influencer dishonesty that I have noticed recently became apparent through British blogger and You Tuber Tanya Burr. She frequently films haul videos for various well-known brands – two recent ones being ASOS and LUSH Cosmetics. In the title of the ASOS haul Tanya specifies that the products within the video are endorsed through the inclusion of the word ‘ad’ but in the LUSH Cosmetics one she does not. Alarm bells ring immediately here as it displays that there is a massive inconsistency within her videos. This is again extremely misleading for her viewers, because although she may genuinely love the products she is talking about, she has still failed to specify that a monetary transaction has taken place. That being said, I was very surprised to discover that a lot of bloggers feel their engagement ratings are lower on posts that include information regarding endorsements. It’s as though viewers want influencers to be honest but in a less point blank way as it taints the façade of their perfect lifestyles.

Love, Lana Skye x 

Source Credit: Refinery29, The New York Times. 
Photo Credit: Tanya Burr Instagram. 

Can We Trust Celebrity Endorsements? | Part Two

Welcome back!

Hash tags on social media. Everyone uses them or has used them to a certain extent. Influencers across any social platform however, have to be very careful in terms of what hash tags they include on their posts. A huge trend I’ve come to notice recently, particularly on Instagram, is a whole host of celebrities posting pictures of themselves endorsing various different beauty and health products. One that I see almost every day is Sugar Bear Hair Vitamins that claim to result in faster hair growth, increased hair shine and reduced hair breakage. To most who follow said celebrities, posts such as these are obvious paid endorsements, not just innocent promotions that they have decided to do out of the kindness of their hearts. That being said, a lot of the people who follow celebrities such as Kim Kardashian perhaps wont process the fact that she has essentially been paid to be nice about the brand, instead thinking that they need to buy the hair vitamins just because she uses them. This is the exact reaction that brands want as their ultimate goal through paying a celebrity a large sum of money is that it will result in thousands of sales – meaning they’ll make the endorsement fee back and then some. This is clearly a successful strategy due to the high volume of brands that implement it into their marketing plan, but a lot of the time rules are broken and guidelines aren’t followed. More often than not, celebrities forget to address the fact that they have been paid to post. Hash tags such as #spon and #ad should always be apparent but sadly this isn’t the case, resulting in consumers and followers being mislead and drawn into purchasing something they don’t necessarily need. 

An example of how the issue surrounding hash tag usage is being combatted comes through an organization called ‘truthinadvertising.org’. They fight deceptive advertising on a daily basis and feel that the use of short hash tags such as #spon and #ad is still too ambiguous for consumers. Their passion regarding this subject was made clear when Kylie Jenner was forced to edit an Instagram caption to state she was gifted a birthday home from online marketplace Airbnb instead of just saying ‘thank you’ to the brand. I do feel for celebrities in a situation like Kylie’s, as it isn’t necessarily her fault if a brand wishes to gift her something for exposure in return. That being said, I also feel that it is so important for people to know the difference between when somebody has actually bought a product or service for themselves and when they have been offered money to promote it. 

Love, Lana Skye x 

Source Credit: Refinery29, The New York Times. 

Photo Credit: Kim Kardashian Instagram, Kylie Jenner Instagram. 

Can We Trust Celebrity Endorsements? | Part One

Welcome back!

Now more than ever it appears to have become standard practice for brands, ranging in size and status, to recruit well known faces in order to boost their profile within the competitive industry that is fashion. For the most part this isn’t an issue as brands are merely using a particular technique to promote themselves, but I’m beginning to notice that there is a certain slyness surrounding how these transactions take place. 

The ‘pay for play’ model is something I have only recently become aware of. It essentially consists of celebrities being paid a large sum of money to wear a particular outfit whilst going about their daily business. Depending on the person a brand wishes to dress, the payment is said to range between $5,000 and $10,000 according to a source found on Refinery29. Before I discovered the model and how it works, I would see pictures in magazines of supermodels walking the streets wearing particularly beautiful outfits, thinking only that they have an incredible wardrobe and sense of style. It never once crossed my mind that doing something as simple as getting dressed in the morning resulted in them making a significant amount of money. I can understand why high profile models and celebrities in particular are on board with ‘pay for play’ as it seems like the easiest possible way to earn. In reality, who would ever turn down a few thousand dollars if all they had to do was wear an outfit for a few hours? That being said, I feel this form of promotion is unfair as it misleads consumers massively. As a result, my trust in luxury level brands particularly has decreased. If money has been exchanged, why shouldn’t we as customers and loyal fans of brands be made aware? This strategy is a clever one as it isn’t obvious in the slightest, at least initially, that a product is being endorsed. Photographs captured by the paparazzi are then posted on Instagram accounts with millions of followers, exposing every single one of them to that particular brand. It isn’t a surprise then, that the ‘pay for play’ model its being heavily used as it clearly has a high success rate.

A recent example I have seen of the ‘pay for play’ model being utilized involves model of the moment Gigi Hadid. She recently posted a candid shot of herself on her Instagram account sitting in the back of a car, most likely taken by paparazzi. In the photograph she is seen sporting a gorgeous pearl embellished dress. Her caption states nothing about what or who she is wearing, merely saying “midnite in Paris.” It wasn’t until I checked to see who was tagged in the image that I was introduced to designer Adam Selman. After visiting his Instagram account, the product placement became inexplicably obvious. The caption on one of his posts, again of Gigi in his dress, exclaims that it’s available to pre order. Due to Gigi’s current status within the fashion world, dressing her will come with a serious price tag, but it’s a gamble pretty much guaranteed to pay off due to the instant and extreme level of exposure Selman will have received.

Love, Lana Skye x 

Source Credit: Refinery29, The New York Times. 

Photo Credit: Gigi Hadid Instagram, Adam Selman Instagram.