How many celebrities do you see or hear about in daily life, whether it be on your phone, on billboards, or hear their songs on the radio? Do you ever wonder about the subconscious impact it has on your consumption habits? “An Experiment” will put this to the test through the use of storytelling through videos to see just how big of an impact this takes, and how consumers behave in the presence of celebrity-endorsed brands and products.
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In this video-based project, the examination of celebrity-influence on the general public as consumers is examined and taken into account on a psychological and subconscious level. Kanye West, as well as other celebrities are used as common examples of just how often celebrities are partnered with certain brands, both parties profiting off of their reputation and using fame and relevance to capitalize off of consumers. This takes away the individual choice of the consumer to make their own choices based on their own genuine preferences, and hinders their chances of going out and finding smaller shops that have more personal roots and a deeper connection with their customers. The videos for this project have been posted on an anonymous TikTok account. For the purposes of the exhibition, the videos have been compiled into one file on repeat, demonstrating the cycle of consumers following in the footsteps of what celebrities tell them to purchase and support. The four videos hope to take the viewer through a journey of seeing the issue, recognizing the problem, understanding one of the many causes of the problem, and coming to terms with a solution. Taking the viewer through a visual journey is a way for them to look at the situation from a third person perspective, since the viewers are usually encountering this phenomenon in the first person, unable to see how the situation looks from afar. By viewing this cycle from a visual third person perspective, they are hopefully able to recognize the issue with their own eyes and hopefully feel the desire to make a change in their consumption habits. In accordance with this change in consumption habits, during my project, I created a spreadsheet of local shops in any area that anyone could collaborate in, and in the span of a week, about 12 random people added to the list, listing smaller shops that may not get as much attention in comparison to larger brands. This then also gives these small local shops the chance to gain new customers that come from viewing the spreadsheet, executing impact beyond an academic project. The spreadsheet has more opportunity to grow during the exhibition, as viewers within the exhibition watch all four videos and are able to participate. It should be normalized for people to go out and find unique stores within their cities and spread the word, instead of putting in minimal effort and follow the wave of relevant celebrities. Celebrities endorsing and advertising for certain brands are not in the interest of trying to show consumers the best product on the market, but instead to work in their best interest by furthering their financial standing by partnering with large brands, leaving smaller businesses little room to compete.
Tags:#celebrityinfluence#socialmedia#individualchoice