Last Name 1 Student Name Instructor Name ENC 1102.013 27 September, 2012 Celebrity Worship and Advertising Beginning in the 20 th century, many companies turn to celebrities to sell everything from shampoo to cameras. In the article “Print Advertising: Celebrity Presenters,” John Rossiter and Ale Smidts examine hook theory. Hook theory suggests that the effectiveness of a celebrity model is based upon these characteristics: visibility (widely well-known), credibility (frequent user of the product and trustworthy), and attraction (likability and role-model identification). Companies use celebrities as “hook” models because they are “perceived as very high on relevant characteristics, [allowing them to] influence a person” (Rossiter). From this theory we can see how companies will persuade an audience with pictures and videos of their favorite celebrities to entice them to buy certain products over others.
Transcript
Last Name 1
Student Name
Instructor Name
ENC 1102.013
27 September, 2012
Celebrity Worship and Advertising
Beginning in the 20th century, many companies turn to celebrities to sell everything from
shampoo to cameras. In the article “Print Advertising: Celebrity Presenters,” John Rossiter and
Ale Smidts examine hook theory. Hook theory suggests that the effectiveness of a celebrity
model is based upon these characteristics: visibility (widely well-known), credibility (frequent
user of the product and trustworthy), and attraction (likability and role-model identification).
Companies use celebrities as “hook” models because they are “perceived as very high on
relevant characteristics, [allowing them to] influence a person” (Rossiter). From this theory we
can see how companies will persuade an audience with pictures and videos of their favorite
celebrities to entice them to buy certain products over others.
Justin Bieber is now selling his second fragrance: “Girlfriend.” The company planned to
spend approximately $20 million to advertise the new perfume (Elliot). The budget includes print
advertising as well as a commercial. This paper will be examining the print advertisement from
Seventeen Magazine (Justin Bieber’s Girlfriend). The ad is organized into three main sections:
the left side, the right side and the title (see Appendix A). As you examine the left side of the
advertisement you see Justin Bieber with his girlfriend of three years, Selena Gomez. In a
collage of photo booth style pictures, you see Gomez as she places her lips as close to Bieber’s
lips and face as possible without actually kissing him, as well as solo shots of Bieber. On the
right side of the ad is a bigger picture of Gomez coming close to kiss Bieber, but he is not
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looking at her. He stares straight into your eyes with a look of desire for you instead of the girl
holding on to him in the picture (see Appendix A). The title section of the ad features a picture of
the perfume bottle and a purple and pink banner with the words “Justin Bieber’s Girlfriend”
along with four words from Bieber’s song “Boyfriend:” “Never Let You Go.” I will use this
advertisement as an example of how companies will take advantage of the fans following a
trending celebrity by using colors, words and photographs to create a feeling of a personal
connection between the consumer and the model celebrity. This false connection allows the
consumer to fall into an unethical illusion that the product will bring him or her closer to the
celebrity but will ultimately cause harm to the consumer.
The young Justin Bieber has infected more than 30 million people (teen and young adult
women being the majority) with Bieber Fever. At the L.A. Premiere of Bieber’s movie Never
Say Never, Disney star, Debby Reynolds, shares the cure to Bieber Fever. She prescribes that,
“the only medication for Bieber [Fever] is to Bieber more” (Warner). In Never Say Never, you
can see all of the crying fans doing everything they can to get closer to Bieber, the ultimate
medication (see Appendix B) (Justin Bieber: Never). Having infected 30 million young people,
Klout, a social media website that measures the influence you have on others, ranked Bieber as
most influential. “Justin Bieber has the highest score at 100, 10 spots ahead of Barack Obama at
88, who also trails the Dalai Lama (90) and Lady Gaga (89)” (Rushe). “Most advertising
managers do not actually measure the characteristics that potential presenters possess when
selecting a presenter for the campaign. Instead, most managers make an intuitive judgment based
on other people’s likely extreme perceptions” (Rossiter). An advertising manager would only
need to see a still from Never Say Never to judge that these fan’s perceptions of Bieber are so
extreme they will buy anything with his name or lyrics on it.
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The advertisement’s title and subtitle are placed upon banners which are the colors pink
and purple. This simple choice of color greatly increases the ethos of this advertisement since
Bieber’s favorite color is purple. The advertisement’s subtitle, “never let you go,” is placed
under the title, “Justin Bieber’s Girlfriend.” The subtitle comes from his #1 song “Boyfriend,”
where the full line of lyrics is: “if I was your boyfriend, I’d never let you go” ("Justin Bieber
Biography”). “Boyfriend” was released on 14 April, 2012. The kairos of the advertisement is
impeccable, as it was released two months after the song, which had been on the Hot 100 list for
8 straight weeks ("Justin Bieber Biography”). Undoubtedly, the Fever ridden fans knew all of the
words to the song and desired to have Bieber as their boyfriend. Using the lyrics, the
advertisement presents fallacious logos in a promise that the use of this perfume will help you
become as his girlfriend, Gomez, and he will “never let you go.” Then by shooting you with
pathos’ arrow, Bieber’s gaze is enough to cause the Fever to burn uncontrollably until you cool it
with a spritz of his fragrance for girls.
Bieber is undoubtedly a very effective hook model with “Girlfriend” sales skyrocketing.
“Teenage girls nationwide are so desperate to get a piece of the Bieber that his latest perfume,
Girlfriend, is selling one [bottle] every minute” (London). Using Bieber to sell the perfume,
however, is unethical because the ad is a manipulative advertisement. Mark J. Phillips defines
manipulative advertising in the Business & Professional Ethics Journal. “Manipulative
advertising [is] advertising that tries to favorably alter consumers’ perceptions of the advertised
product by appeals to factors other than the product’s physical attributes and functional
attributes” (Phillips). The ad’s appealing factors for “Girlfriend” are focused primarily on Bieber
and his lyrics with only a small picture of the bottle and its title. There is no description of the
perfume. This focus is designed to create the illusion that the product will bring you to an almost
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tangible connection with Bieber. The manipulation of the fan’s desires can influence them to
attempt storming onto stage during concerts and charging their way through crowds to chase
Bieber down the street (see Appendix B). This results in physical injuries that are sometimes
fatal as well as heartbreak, emotional and mental trauma. Though effective in sales, the use of
hook models in manipulative advertising is dangerous and can have lasting effects on young
teens and adults.
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Works Cited
Elliott, Stuart. "ADVERTISING; Using His Fans To Introduce A Girlfriend." The New York Times. The
