What the Blake Lively Conversation is Missing
“Based on a best-selling Colleen Hoover novel, “It Ends With Us” is ultimately about breaking the cycle of domestic violence that entraps one generation after another,” The New York Times reported, describing the movie adaptation of the popular book.
The controversy surrounding the release of “It Ends With Us” in the media, propelled by the alleged feud between actress Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, the movie’s director, is in itself par for the course.
The rumours tell a Hollywood tale as old as time (difficult actors, drama on set). But the ramifications of the ongoing feud, spurred by both parties’ respective PR teams (Baldoni recently hired the PR crisis firm that Johnny Depp employed during his trial with Amber Heard) highlights a significant cultural shift taking place.
The feud sparked a wave of criticism against Blake, churning up old, awkward interviews, negative reviews of her recently launched haircare line and a torrent of allegations incriminating her character. The lines between her roles as an actress, businesswoman, brand and person have been blurred, and according to the internet, they’re all bad.
What’s missing from the Blake Lively conversation is the greater picture, a consideration of shifting powers that have reshaped the definition of a modern celebrity.
So what does it take to be a celebrity with a brand today? And where did Blake go wrong? The answer lies with Gen Z.
The value of connection, according to Gen Z
Gen Z is a powerful consumer base, with widespread voices across social media and $450 billion in spending power worldwide, making the population an important demographic to target.
Being rich, famous and beautiful doesn’t guarantee a successful product launch anymore — everyone has a brand, and in a sea of never-ending content, younger consumers are looking to feel a sense of connection with the celebrities they follow online. This is represented by the rise of TikTok stars and the success of direct-to-consumer brands like Rhode and Djerf Avenue.
These brands, both helmed by modern celebrities and online it-girls Hailey Bieber and Matilda Djerf, market to their consumers like they exist in a girly-pop ecosystem, where nothing is wrong and everyone is poreless. They create micro-trends (for example, Hailey Bieber’s “Strawberry Summer”), and then they sell products to their consumers that complement the trend or aesthetic. On social media, this is done through casual-seeming TikToks, filmed up close, of Miss Bieber applying blush, talking to the camera, or Matilda Djerf getting dressed in the morning.
Today, particularly for Gen Z, our desired relationship to modern celebrities is parasocial. We think that we know the person on the other side of the screen, and it makes us trust their product recommendations and the authenticity of their personal brands. And, as a generation that has grown up online, we can tell when someone is pushing product for a money-grab, versus creating a business to pursue their passion.
The age of the multi hyphenate
While celebrity personas have always mattered, in the Goopy digital age, A-listers are increasingly becoming multi-hyphenates.
Traditional movie stars are a dying breed — old Hollywood beauties, who acted in movies, walked red carpets and accepted awards, are rare, in a hyper-online world in which the line between actor, model and online figure is increasingly blurred.
“People like Charlie Chaplin, Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley became household names, not only for their talents but also for their carefully crafted public personas,” an essay published on Medium regarding the “Rise, Fall and Irrelevance of Celebrity Culture” notes.
In order to understand how this affects Blake Lively, consider that today, more people than ever can become, as was once said about Kim Kardashian, “famous for being famous.” As such, A-listers who ascended to the top through traditional avenues, long before younger generations of modern celebrities grew followings online, can seem particularly out of touch. Fame is no longer an exclusive commodity, and this new reality has upset our idolization of powerful figures.
In an interview with the University of Columbia’s magazine, Sharon Marcus, a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia and author of the book The Drama of Celebrity, said:
“Today you have so-called microcelebrities, for example those who are famous on YouTube. Some have ten million followers or more, yet many of us have never heard of them. I think it’s going to be interesting to see what happens to celebrity culture when it ceases to be a set of common reference points. In 1964, you could be a seventy-five-year-old who didn’t like the Beatles, but you knew who they were. Celebrity is no longer a common bond uniting generations.”
Blake’s greatest misstep in her marketing and PR approach to the “It Ends with Us” press tour is her lack of “common reference points.”
Why Blake’s approach isn’t working
“Blake’s marketing strategies have a huge gap,” a video essay on Blake’s alleged mean-girl antics purported.
The gap in Blake’s (and her team’s) marketing techniques lie between the celebrity persona she presents to the public and the products marketed at the same time as the movie (ie., her hair care company Blake Brown Beauty and her beverage line, Betty Buzz).
There’s aggravation online about her personal peddling, by the way she’s pushing her new hair care line and alcohol line and cocktail mixer line and her husband and their family image and the florals (oh, the florals), while promoting a movie about domestic violence. It comes across as inauthentic, and we’re insulted by the insinuation that we would buy into what she’s attempting to sell.
The disconnect between Blake’s brands and the movie she’s promoting, situated within the context of modern celebrity culture, is where the gap lies — and it may be too wide for her to bridge. In my opinion, Blake should not have marketed her other brands at the same time as the movie. As an A-list celebrity with a powerful voice, she should have compassionately and thoughtfully discussed domestic violence during the movie’s press tour. But examining the factors at play that cultivated this perfect storm, and speak to the current state of celebrity brands and culture, is more interesting than hating on one tone-deaf PR nightmare.
Being able to cast a wide net with your reach is extremely powerful, but knowing how to use your voice to connect with your audience is essential.
If you’re looking to create an authentic relationship with your businesses’ community through a strong brand voice and cohesive aesthetic, we can help. With our fingers on the pulse of the current climate, we’ll work with you to nurture your consumer base from the ground up, with integrity. Explore our range of marketing and creative services today.
FAQs
Blake has been receiving negative attention for the way that she has highlighted her personal brands while promoting her latest project, “It Ends with Us,” a movie about domestic violence.
“It Ends with Us” is a 2016 romance novel by Colleen Hoover that details an increasingly abusive relationship, and one woman’s escape from it. The book was turned into a movie that was recently released.
Blake Brown Beauty has been receiving negative feedback. The return rate is high and people think that the packaging isn’t *cute*.
