Attention Grabbing Celebrities Court Media For A Good Cause

Attention-Grabbing Celebrities Court Media For A Good Cause

by

Andrew Joyce

Celebrities work in a profession where success depends on a certain reliable bankability. That bankability is based on practical considerations – perhaps skill in acting or singing, the likelihood of them turning up on time to shoot, insurance backing – but also on star quality.

This intangible quality that pushes a celebrity onto the A-list rests on a complex interchange between celebrity and adoring audience. In the modern world this relationship is brokered by the gatekeepers of the stars: the paparazzi and the celebrity gossip magazines they supply. Celebrities can – rightly – complain about the intrusion of the celebrity news machine into their private lives. Nevertheless, they rely on it to keep their image buoyant in the minds of the fickle paying public. The cynics will point out that some stars and their publicists are wholly complicit in the celebrity gossip mill, parlaying the attention into successful profits. Others will point out that it’s not all cynicism when stars use that attention for a positive impact by promoting charitable causes. Celebrities can add a dusting of glamour and prestige to a charity event; they can throw the weight of their fame behind a charity campaign raising its public profile considerably. There have been some notable examples of this recently supporting World Aids Day. In the UK, Elton John guest edited the national newspaper The Independent, drawing attention to the current state of HIV and AIDs globally with a series of well-considered articles. In the US, R’n’B singer Alicia Keys has rallied fellow celebrities to support her Keep a Child Alive charity with a high-profile Digital Life Sacrifices campaign. Starting on December 1st these celebrities are vowing to sign-off Facebook and Twitter until the charity raises US$1 million. The campaign is supported by an original and distinctive series of images of Kim Kardashian, Elijah Wood, Ryan Seacrest, Serena Williams and other celebrities in coffins as they celebrate their ‘digital death’. The eye-catching celebrity poster campaign is no new tactic for charities looking to capitalise on the power of stars to draw attention to their cause. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a well-known charity that has been supported by high-profile vegetarians. One of their strongest and most outspoken supporters is Pamela Anderson. The blond bombshell regularly poses in provocative posters for the charity; in one of the most well-known images Anderson stands clad in a cabbage bikini promoting vegetarianism.

Andrew Joyce writes on films, celebrity and miscellaneous pop culture as a freelance journalist.

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Attention-Grabbing Celebrities Court Media For A Good Cause