Response 1

Response to Gina Kim’s Question


I agree that many of product placements by celebrities are an example of abusive use of their charisma and character. It reminded me of advertorials that I learned in previous class. I think these messages delivered by celebrities are still effective for some people because their charisma and character are very strong, and viewers of public television are more likely to value “likeability, novelty and entertainment” than truly credible sources (Page 117 118) As far as I learned in my ethics class, it may violate the idea of Deontology Ethics that focuses on people’s rationality and human dignity. I think these product placements are meant to manipulate people, and I do not think it should be allowed. However, I think people are still able to make a judgment based on other factors of credibility. For example, Woodward and Denton claim, “…determining credibility is through the use of formal guidelines for judging expertise and reliability” (page110). I think people are able to judge the source objectively. Also, they say. “For many people, high credibility means trustworthiness” (Page 115). I assume that these commercially over used and over exposed celebrities do not have full credibility.