Core Post 1 - Clayton Vozzella

            In Stardom: Industry of Desire, Charles Eckert discusses early Hollywood as the catalyst for what we know today as product placement and celebrity endorsement. According to Eckert, Cecil B. DeMille “maintained that the form of cinema he pioneered in the late teens and twenties was a response to pressures he received from the publicity and sales people in New York.” He was asked to create modern films, not historical dramas, in order to give space for advertisement of the latest consumer products (33).

This era saw an explosion of fashion manufacturing and wholesaling in LA. This attachment of star and celebrity to fashion makes me think of the contemporary example of Kate Middleton. There was a time in recent years where everything Kate Middleton was photographed wearing instantly sold out online. Even more recently, there are Instagram accounts dedicated to chronicling what stars are wearing, accompanied by links that send the consumer directly to where they can purchase the items (@stylebeyonce being my favorite).

What interested me was whom marketers targeted as their desired consumers. Early cinema, and arguably cinema today, was a form of affordable leisure, and yet Eckert writes that, “Cinema Fashions catered only to women capable of spending 30 dollars and more for a gown. It agreed with the studios that cheaper fashions, even though they would be eagerly received, would destroy the aura of exclusivity…” (34). So sellers of goods were marketing higher end gowns to those who could possibly not afford them. They seemingly put women in a dichotomy of affordability and inaccessibility. I don’t know when the advent of credit happened, so this could be a factor here, but this situation seems paradoxical to me.

Additionally, marketers’ target consumer was described as, “…single, nineteen years old, Anglo-Saxon, somewhat favouring Janet Gaynor” (35). Black women were not of that target consumer base. I don’t know enough to know precisely to what degree black women contributed to consumerism at the time, but I would venture to say that marketers were missing out. When Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty hit the market, which uniquely caters to the darkest of black women, it sold out instantly. She offers them products that no one had previously offered. Not only did Rihanna reach an untapped consumer pool, she also used her celebrity to leverage the success of the brand.

It’s incredible how the association of a celebrity to a product will bring about its commercial success. Since Eckert mentions Coca-Cola, I’ll conclude with the rumor that Beyoncé was reportedly paid $50,000,000 for her endorsement of Pepsi. My queen is a diva, best believe her, you see how she gettin’ paid.