Chances are, as you are read my column this week, you are wearing some designer shoes or maybe a professional baseball team hat. Chances are that you also drove to school this morning in a car or might have read a book while waiting for the bus. Chances are that you even voted a few weeks ago for a politician to be elected as the next president of the United States.
Chances are, however, that you did every single one of these things simply because a celebrity or other person you admire endorsed or recommended the product.
Celebrity endorsements are nothing new to our society and in fact, they are so common that we forget they are even there at times. Whether it is U2 or Dave Matthews Band reminding you to “vote for change” or various country music stars rallying behind their maverick, John McCain, it would have been virtually impossible for someone to not have been influenced in some way by these celebrities.
Sure, we all deny it at first, right? “No sir, you are completely wrong about me, I did months of research and watched every single debate and had CNN live streaming to my iPhone at all times throughout the past six months of election season,” you would say. While I’m sure there may be one guy like this out there, the candidates and other major corporations were counting on their celebrities’ abilities to influence our decisions.
All right, so you’re not too big into politics — I don’t blame you — but what about shoes? We all wear them, right? I bet you can simply name the company if I name the celebrity. Michael Jordan. Nike. Any “American Idol” winner of the past five years … Skechers. There are too many to name.
I myself am guilty of this crime, as I can remember a time in middle school where I would have just about killed to get the new pair of Air Jordans that cost something like $200.
How about cars? Acura is betting that the comforting and soothing voice of James Spader from ABC’s “Boston Legal” will convince you to buy their cars, while BMW hopes that Gary Sinise, Lieutenant Dan from “Forrest Gump,” will sell theirs.
No matter where you look, celebrity endorsements are everywhere and influence nearly everything we choose to purchase or vote on.
The more critical matter here is questioning whether or not this a good thing. I say it isn't.
The fact that we, as Americans, can be so easily influenced to vote for a candidate based on who our favorite band is going to vote for, or purchase a book simply because it was on Oprah’s Book Club, says a lot about us.
Could it be that we have lost the pride and accomplishment that came along with standing alone?
We stood alone when we told the British to shove it with the Declaration of Independence. We stood alone when we fought a two-front war against both the Japanese and the Germans in World War II. We stood alone when we put a man on the Moon in July of 1969.
So why have we all of a sudden decided that we want to belong to some sort of exclusive club of people who all buy the same things?
I hope this trend is not too all-encompassing to be turned back. Stand proud, you few select Americans who wrote in your own name as a candidate for president. Boast about how you only read online blogs from fifth graders who think they understand the workings of the world. Let the world know that you won’t drive a BMW or an Acura, not because you can’t afford one with your minimum wage paying job at Wendy’s, but because you refuse to be clumped into a group with other suckers who fell for the celebrity endorsements.
Stand proud even if it means you stand alone. Sometimes that is the best place to be.
Alex is endorsing himself for State Press Columnist/Badass of the Year. Vote for him at alex.bolt@asu.edu.
