We live in an age where celebrities — whether it’s an actor/actress, reality star, musician or athlete — are idolized. We are constantly bombarded on social media, especially Instagram, with images of their every move. It’s easy to get caught up in the seemingly glamorous lives of these celebrities, and for many of us, we tend to forget that a lot of what they do is not only staged, but they are also being paid to do it. Here’s what you need to know about celebrity ads.
Recently, celebrtity ads on Instagram (tagged as #ads) have been popping up on countless celebrities’ pages and their followers are eating it up. Whether it be a post about sunglasses, detox tea or hair products, social media users are flocking to companies’ sites so they can have the same products as their favorite celebs for a discounted price.
Take this curling iron that Jojo from “The Bachelorette” promoted. After completing a video tutorial using the product, Jojo then told her fans that they too could get the product and even for a discount if the use the code “JOJO.”
I’ll be the first to admit, I am obsessed with Jojo’s perfect beach waves, but does that mean if I buy this curling iron that I’ll get those exact same waves? Most celebrities don’t come out and directly say, “I have been paid to say I use this product.” This then leads to their millions of followers believing that if they buy this certain product they will get to experience a little piece of their favorite celebrity’s lifestyle.
Take the Kardashian clan. Many of the sisters, including Khloe and Kylie, have posted pictures promoting their use of “Flat Tummy Tea,” which is a detox tea.
No one can say that Khloe doesn’t look great, but has she really been drinking this tea?
According to Captiv8, a company that connects brands to social media users with lots of followers, someone who has 3 to 7 million followers on Instagram can charge a company $75,000 if they agree to post a picture of themselves using that company’s product. Khloe has 59.5 million followers on Instagram, so who knows how much she’s actually being paid to say she drinks this tea.
It’s important to recognize the lack of transparency about whether or not these celebrities are actually using these products. Fans trust what these stars have to say and are willing to spend their money on products that they see their role models using, regardless of whether or not they know if they even work.
Not only are some fans wasting their money on useless products, but they’re also putting their health at risk by buying them. Take these hair gummy vitamins that are frequently mentioned on celeb’s social media pages. How do we know what’s actually in them?
I know that for many social media users, they don’t even look up what’s in the products advertised on Instagram and just assume that the ingredients in them will be harmless. Not only do these “hair vitamins” cause some concern, but the recent trend in waist trainers has caused many medical professionals to caution users since they can squeeze your internal organs and cause serious damage.
These waist trainers, along with detox tea and protein shakes, all popular ads on Instagram, are also playing a large role in the body image problem that so many of social media’s young users are experiencing today. By promoting these products that are supposed to help you achieve this ideal body, celebrities are telling their followers to put their health at risk all for the sake of achieving a body that society says is “perfect.”
For many of these stars, they don’t mean to harm their fans, all they’re doing is using their platform to make more money, which I’m sure for many of us we would do as well if we had the chance. But to what extent?
As more and more social media platforms emerge, it’s inevitable that brands will continue to use celebrities to promote their products, since they’re making a lot of money from these types of advertisements. And celebrities will continue to get more and more money to promote products that they probably don’t even use.
Celebrities have the responsibility to be truthful to their fans who love them and helped them get where they are today. So the next time DJ Khaled posts about his favorite vodka, think about how much he’s getting paid to say that and consider your part in the never ending cycle of glorifying everything that celebrities say and do.