But they aren't normal people... celebrities are selling an image of themselves in film, movies, television shows... they are playing a role and people become attached to the person playing said role, but that is a fantasy. The cast members of Stranger Things aren't their characters, and they don't advertise to people that this is who they are, so no offense, but there IS a huge layer between YouTubers and celebrities. YouTubers are in more intimate settings and create a persona that wants to be your friend but advertises it as real. Do you really think Zoella puts on that phony act of being bubbly and kind because she knows her fans realize it's fake? Of course not... she uses their one-sided friendship to sell them things because they feel that it will make her like them, especially when they tweet pictures of themselves buying her stuff.BONTBFW wrote:Youtubers are a form of entertainment, just like someone on a TV show is. Every celebrity and youtuber sells themselves. They all have a brand. One of the most popular brands with celebrities is "I'm just a normal person", especially among celebrities aimed at teens. This isn't some brand new strategy. Yet again though, youtubers get more shit for it. I think youtubers and mainstream celebrities connect more than people would like to admit imo.pseudonyme wrote:I don't know, I feel like there is a difference between youtubers and other celebrities. Celebrities sell a lot of things—some sell music, some sell character roles/acting, some sell beauty "goals." What do youtubers (particularly vloggers) sell? Themselves. They sell the (if not false, certainly not completely true) image of themselves as the perky friendly/quirky/nerdy/etc. but attractive girl/boy next door who is your friend and BFF. They sell the illusion of friendship and closeness.BONTBFW wrote: I just think youtubers get more shit for the same things others of their caliber do. Harry got shit for his t-shirts from the media, mainly because he was selling extra for larger sized t-shirts. Most times with mainstream celebrities fans usually complain about the prices, but the media usually don't pick up on it. With celebs who put their names on these things, attend the same meetings about these things, are literally directors in companies controlling their merch - "Oh it's their management!". For some reason with youtubers, they're always fully to blame? Why? I personally think a lot of people don't like change, and they don't like that youtubers and ~influencers are the new celebs, so they tear them down quicker.
Zoe definitely made a mistake with that calendar pricing, but I just don't for a second believe she would've priced it at that if this was 100% on her own. I think if she was on her own, she would've made a standard calendar at the pricing of others she's seen when she grew up. Just like other celebrities with overpriced things, their management whose biggest interest is making as much money as possible (I mean can't fault them entirely, it's their job. They just need to be smart about it) has a huge influence on these pricing decisions.
Zoe definitely needed to be called out about the calendar, but people just took it too far for me. I just can't hop on that train.
Should celebrities screw over their fans with over priced merch? Obviously they shouldn't, it's a dick move. But isn't it way worse when people who act like their fans' BFF do it? "I love my fans so much," "the merch is for you guys" they say, constantly giving off the impression of being fans' friends, and then treat them like little ATM machines who whine until their parents dispense money. Zoe's crappy advent calendar is just so ridiculous, and it isn't the first time she's put out this type of money-grubbing product (the disastrous Hello World and the lazy PB x SL merch to name the recents), so it's increasingly difficult to give her/them the benefit of doubt.
Sorry Caspar, I don't give a damn how well you know Zoe and how sweet she is in life and how positive you think everyone should be when ya'll sit on mountains of cash siphoned from children and their hassled parents—if she keeps doing crappy things, I'm going to start calling her a crappy person. One's a chance, two's a coincidence, three times is a pattern man.
So yes, celebrities have a brand, but by far and large, their brand is not selling themselves in the same way that YouTubers do, especially since -- hello? Celebrities have OLDER demographics that will buy good products and will discern between overpriced crap and genuinely good products (i.e. Jessica Alba's Honest Company empire) whereas YouTubers have overwhelmingly younger fanbases that will still buy crap because it's from their favorites. So YouTubers not only deserve more shit for it, but they actually get less shit because YouTube is still this isolated little world from the mainstream whereas celebrities can have their names plastered all over the world in minutes and on the news.
I'd say reality TV stars and YouTubers have more in common. But your Zoellas and your Jennifer Lawrences? No