Think of your favorite “candid” celebrity moment. The truth is, that moment is likely not candid at all. Celebrities often use these “caught in the wild” moments to control the narrative of their persona. Celebrities are only seen when they want to be seen. It is all very intentional.
Think about it, when Taylor Swift was dating Joe Alwyn, she was barely seen alone in public, let alone with Joe, but, as she entered a relationship in which both parties wanted to be seen, the days of her and Travis Kelce being out of the spotlight are few and far between. Swift wants to promote the idea of a devoted fiancé, so what does she do? Shows up at almost every Chiefs game supporting her husband-to-be, increasing not only her visibility and relevance with the public but also, the Kansas City Chiefs, as Swifties would tune in to watch the games in hopes of catching a glimpse of their favorite singer.
Consumers are often unaware of what goes on behind a paparazzi photo of their favorite celebrity, allowing for orchestrated authenticity. A perfectly planned out advertisement in real life that consumers bite like bait.
Celebrities show us a lifestyle that most of us want to have. Fan bases want to eat where they eat and wear what they wear. The average American cannot afford to buy anything a celebrity is seen wearing on the red carpet, nevertheless, most can afford a $40 Rhode phone case, which Hailey Bieber was seen using at an NFL game. Although most Swifties can’t afford a pair of Louboutin’s like Swift, they flocked to Jojo’s Bar in Northeast Ohio after she was seen having lunch there last summer. Allowing consumers to partake in a small part of the celebrity lifestyle they long for.
Nothing a celebrity does in public is unintentional. According to Heather Magidsohn, owner of a PR agency in LA, for Fashionista, when celebrities receive gifts from brands it has already been planned and talked about with their team and stylists, ensuring the product is going to be seen with the talent and, therefore, the item’s sales revenue is almost guaranteed to spike.
“We never just ship out a box and cross our fingers,” Magidsohn said about making strategic decisions about the likelihood of securing an image before seeding (or gifting) a product.
Celebrity paparazzi Harrison has talked about how candid images work behind the scenes. A celebrity’s team will simply call him up and explain exactly when and where they are going to be so they can be photographed, then he will send the images to the celebrity’s publicist for approval before releasing them to the media.
Celebrities do this for different reasons, whether it is to promote a new product, keep their relevance, debut a new image or even campaign for a role-like Addison Rae’s iconic paparazzi moment reading Britney Spears’ book, while wearing a Spears inspired look.
Lexi Pulling, founder of Pull PR, said for Fashionista, that sometimes clients with a smaller following just want to be photographed to “get their name out there” so she’ll dress them up using items from brands she represents and go somewhere where they are guaranteed to be seen. The photographer, Harrison, adds that people who are “fucking nobodies” will call him up to try and become more “popular,” he mentions he will only do it if he’s in the mood for it so he can play the “long game” in hopes of building a relationship with a small influencer who will hopefully become relevant one day.
As a consumer, it is funny to realize the candid images we obsess over are completely planned out, but it is good to be aware of this phenomenon. Although we will probably still want to shop for whatever we see Kendall Jenner wearing in the wild, at least now we know why-it’s what her publicist wants us to do.
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