Do you follow any celebs on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook? I think we all follow someone with a large enough fan base to be considered a celebrity to some extent. Now, if you do follow a celebrity, I’m sure you’ve seen them boast about their favorite products, right?
Do you follow any celebs on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook? I think we all follow someone with a large enough fan base to be considered a celebrity to some extent. Now, if you do follow a celebrity, I’m sure you’ve seen them boast about their favorite products, right? Well what if I told you that those celebrities were getting paid for each tweet and it’s part of a new craze involving celebrity endorsements? Celebrities have been tweeting about products for years now, but now they are getting endorsement deals from brands and social media agencies. Recently Kim Kardashian, reality T.V. “star” tweeted about EOS lip balm and how she loves using the product, and received a reported $20,000 deal for the single tweet. The tweet was not marked as an ad, which has angered the Internet, with people saying they’re unfollowing Kim Kardashian or boycotting EOS. As of now celebrities don’t have to state that they are being compensated for their tweets, which to some seems a bit unethical. Do you think Justin Bieber tweeting where he bought his Mother’s Day flowers to his 40 million “Beliebers” went unpaid? Probably not if the tweet had a link to the products website. Online marketing companies use celebrities to promote brands and help boost sales. Everyday you see tweets with arguably unnecessary plugs for brands. Now fans are calling their beloved celebrities as at replies on Twitter. Some fess up to their fans, some just brush it off and never address their tweet. A few months ago, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it would require celebrities (or anyone really) to include the hashtags #ad or #spons before a tweet. Not doing so could lead to a fine. However, I don’t think the FTC is being too strict because most, if not all, celebrities are ignoring the #ad and #spon hashtag for paid tweets. There is a fine line though. Many people might tweet about a product they genuinely like, which is probably where the FTC has trouble. Is this a sincere admiration tweet or an advertisement? Is this person a celebrity or is this person a regular citizen? This task to regulate paid tweets might be too large for the FTC to handle and, as consumers, we have to use our best judgment to see if these tweets are genuine or not. What do you think of it all?
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