Celebrity died in 2007... will it ever come back?

@julianne.elise.beffa

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Why it worked

The video uses a strong, contrarian hook that challenges a common cultural perception, keeping viewers engaged by promising an expert-backed explanation for a relatable topic.

Summary

The creator argues that the concept of celebrity changed significantly in 2007 due to the rise of the iPhone, social media, and reality television. She explains how these factors shifted celebrity culture from a controlled PR-driven model to one where celebrities have more autonomy and personal connection with their audience.

Structure

1Introduction to the theory that celebrity died in 2007
2Explanation of the creator's background in celebrity PR and academic research
3Analysis of 2007 as a pivotal year for technology and media
4Comparison of pre-2007 PR-managed fame vs. modern social media fame
5Discussion on the decline of traditional 'star power' and the rise of niche influencers
6Closing question to the audience

On-screen text

Celebrity died in 2007... will it ever come back? CELEBRITY DIED IN 2007, AND I'M GONNA TELL YOU WHY. BEYONCE, RIHANNA, KANYE WEST, LEONARDO DICAPRIO, ANNE HATHAWAY, LEBRON JAMES. THEY WERE ALL FAMOUS BEFORE THE YEAR 2007. I WENT TO GRAD SCHOOL AT NYU, AND I SPENT TWO YEARS RESEARCHING THIS EXACT TOPIC. I'M ALSO A CELEBRITY PUBLICIST WHO OWNS MY OWN AGENCY, SO I'M GONNA BREAK DOWN ALL OF MY ACADEMIC FINDINGS AND THE THINGS THAT I'VE OBSERVED THROUGHOUT MY CAREER IN CELEBRITY P.R. 2007 WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT YEAR TO EVER EXIST IN THE HISTORY OF CELEBRITY, NEXT TO 1948, WHEN THE PARAMOUNT SUPREME COURT CASE ALLOWED CELEBRITIES TO NOW HAVE JURISDICTION OVER WHAT THEY DO. TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS HAPPENED IN 2007. NUMBER ONE, THE IPHONE CAME OUT AND DEBUTED FOR THE FIRST TIME. AND NUMBER TWO, THIS IS GONNA SOUND CRAZY, BUT KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS PREMIERED. BEFORE 2007, CELEBRITIES WERE PUT UP IN A GLASS BOX IN THE CEILING. AND CELEBRITY P.R., BASICALLY, WE CONTROLLED EVERYTHING THAT THEY DID, RIGHT? WE ALL REMEMBER TIGER BEAT MAGAZINE AND SEEING ALL THE CELEBRITIES, LIKE, EATING A SLICE OF JOE'S PIZZA OR WEARING THIS BRAND OR OUTSIDE OF THIS STORE. AND THAT WAS ALL COORDINATED BY P.R. AND THE ONLY ACCESS YOU REALLY HAD TO CELEBRITIES WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY P.R. AND MANAGEMENT AND AGENT, SO ON AND SO FORTH. IN THE SAME YEAR, 2007, TWITTER CAME OUT. AND THAT'S ALSO THE YEAR THAT FACEBOOK EXPANDED TO BEING MORE THAN JUST A NETWORK FOR COLLEGE KIDS TO CONNECT. IT BECAME OPEN TO THE BROADER PUBLIC. NOW, WHEN YOU COMBINE ALL OF THIS, KEEPING UP WITH THE KARDASHIANS WAS THE FIRST SHOW TO KIND OF BREAK THAT GLASS CEILING AND INVITE EVERYDAY PEOPLE INTO THE CHAOS AND WHAT IT'S REALLY LIKE TO BE A CELEBRITY. AND KIM KARDASHIAN STARTED BECOMING SUPER, SUPER FAMOUS WITH ALL HER PARIS HILTON STUFF AND ALL THAT. AND THEN WITH SOCIAL MEDIA, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, CELEBRITIES HAD FULL AUTONOMY OVER WHAT THEY WERE POSTING. SO NOW IT WASN'T JUST LIKE COORDINATED P.R. SHOTS OF THEM EATING AT A PIZZA SHOP. IT WAS CELEBRITIES POSTING THEIR BREAKFAST AND THEIR FACEBOOK STATUSES AND TWEETING WHAT THEY WERE DOING TODAY. Here come the parasocial relationships... AS TIME GOES ON, WE START STARTED TO SEE LIKE HOW SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACTED CELEBRITIES' LIVES, INCLUDING THEIR BUSINESSES. FAST FORWARD TO 2015, WHEN KYLIE JENNER LAUNCHED KYLIE COSMETICS. AND MOST PEOPLE DON'T KNOW THIS, BUT THAT WAS THE VERY FIRST BRAND TO EVER SOLELY MARKET ON SOCIAL MEDIA. AND FROM THERE, 2015, IT OPENED THE COMPLETE FLOODGATE TO CELEBRITY OWNED BRANDS THAT WE SEE TODAY, LIKE TEQUILA, BEAUTY, ALL THAT STUFF. BUT THAT REALLY STARTED WITH KYLIE JENNER. THE REASON I SAY THAT CELEBRITY DIED IN 2007 IS BECAUSE NOW WE DON'T HAVE ANY CELEBRITIES THAT HAVE THE STAR POWER THAT, YOU KNOW, HISTORICALLY, CELEBRITIES HAVE HAD. THINK ABOUT THE THE STAR POWER THAT THE BEATLES HAD, THAT MICHAEL JACKSON HAD, THAT EVEN JUSTIN BIEBER. I WOULD ARGUE AND SAY JUSTIN BIEBER AND THE JONAS BROTHERS ARE THE TWO LAST ONES TO MAKE IT IN BEFORE THIS DIGITAL WAVE CAME OVER. EVERYONE, NOWADAYS, EVERYBODY IS A CELEBRITY TO SOMEBODY, YOU KNOW? FOR EXAMPLE, I COULD SAY MISTER BEAST OR ALEX EARL, AND IF YOU'RE UNDER 30 AND PROBABLY KNOW EXACTLY WHO THEY ARE, BUT MY PARENTS DON'T KNOW WHO THEY ARE, BUT IT'S NOT THE SAME AS TAYLOR SWIFT. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? EVERYONE KNOWS WHO SHE IS, AND SHE WAS FAMOUS BEFORE THE YEAR 2007. NOW, WHAT I AGAIN, WHEN I WAS IN GRAD SCHOOL, I WROTE 129 PAGES ON THIS TOPIC, AND I CONDUCTED INTERVIEWS AND ACADEMIC RESEARCH, AND SO WHAT I'M SAYING IS, LIKE, PRETTY VALID, GUYS. IT'S ALSO PUBLISHED. BUT YEAH, CELEBRITY AS WE KNOW IT DIED IN 2007, AND I DON'T KNOW IF WE'LL EVER GET THAT TYPE OF FANDOM AND STARDOM BACK EVER AGAIN. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

Original caption

#celebrity

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Transcript

Celebrity died in 2007, and I'm gonna tell you why. Beyonce, Rihanna, Kanye West, Leonardo DiCaprio, Anne Hathaway, Lebron James. Those are probably all names you think of when you think of celebrities, right? They were all famous before the year 2007. I went to grad school at NYU, and I spent two years researching this exact topic. I'm also a celebrity publicist who owns my own agency, so I'm gonna break down all of my academic findings and the things that I've observed throughout my career in celebrity PR. Let's get into it. 2007 was the most important year to ever exist in the history of celebrity, next to 1948, when the Paramount Supreme Court case allowed celebrities to now have jurisdiction over what they do. Two of the most important things happened in 2007. Number one, the iPhone came out and debuted for the first time. And number two, this is gonna sound crazy, but Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiered. Before 2007, celebrities were put up in a glass box in the ceiling. Okay, picture that. And celebrity PR, basically, we controlled everything that they did, right? We all remember Tiger Beat magazine and seeing all the celebrities, like, eating a slice of Joe's pizza or wearing this brand or outside of this store. And that was all coordinated by PR. And the only access you really had to celebrities was heavily influenced by PR and management and agent and so on and so forth. In the same year, 2007, Twitter came out. And that's also the year that Facebook expanded to being more than just a network for college kids to connect. It became open to the broader public. Now, when you combine all of this, Keeping Up with the Kardashians was the first show to kind of break that glass ceiling and invite everyday people into the chaos and what it's really like to be a celebrity. And Kim Kardashian started becoming super, super famous with all her Paris Hilton stuff and all that. And then with social media, for the first time ever, celebrities had full autonomy over what they were posting. So now it wasn't just like coordinated PR shots of them eating at a pizza shop. It was celebrities posting their breakfast and their Facebook statuses and tweeting what they were doing today. As time goes on, we start started to see like how social media impacted celebrities' lives, including their businesses. Fast forward to 2015, when Kylie Jenner launched Kylie Cosmetics. And most people don't know this, but that was the very first brand to ever solely market on social media. And from there, 2015, it opened the complete floodgate to celebrity owned brands that we see today, like tequila, beauty, all that stuff. But that really started with Kylie Jenner. The reason I say that celebrity died in 2007 is because now we don't have any celebrities that have the star power that, you know, historically, celebrities have had. Think about the the star power that the Beatles had, that Michael Jackson had, that even Justin Bieber. I would argue and say Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers are the two last ones to make it in before this digital wave came over. Everyone, nowadays, everybody is a celebrity to somebody, you know? For example, I could say MrBeast or Alex Earl, and if you're under 30 and probably know exactly who they are, but my parents don't know who they are, but it's not the same as Taylor Swift. You know what I mean? Everyone knows who she is, and she was famous before the year 2007. Now, what I again, when I was in grad school, I wrote 129 pages on this topic, and I conducted interviews and academic research, and so what I'm saying is, like, pretty valid, guys. It's also published. But yeah, celebrity as we know it died in 2007, and I don't know if we'll ever get that type of fandom and stardom back ever again. What do you guys think?