Hollywood’s Most Beloved Sellout — Snoop Dogg
Social media has become one of, if not the most, lucrative marketing tools. Companies are willing to pay large amounts of money to have their products advertised to the public and are doing so through influential personalities. Some people are more reluctant than others and would rather preserve their image. However, given a substantial enough proposition many artists can be swayed to represent a brand regardless of whether or not they value the product. This is often seen as “selling out”.
When an artist has product placements in their videos, or promotes numerous products on their Instagram I automatically think, “how much was this person paid to do this?”. It becomes especially apparent when the product doesn’t really align with the individuals reputation/persona. If an artist or TV personality is going to promote a product and deeply cares about the publics perception of them, I think it must be done very carefully.
Above all I think the artist should actually see the product’s worth. If the individual is truly passionate about the product this will translate to viewers. I also think the marketing of the product should be subtle. I’ve seen artists hashtag #productplacement which I find incredibly inauthentic. In a sense, the artist is blatantly stating the plain, but it reads as selling out. To get around this I would suggest than the artist pose the video or picture of this product in a natural setting to make it seem organic and believable.
One of Hollywood’s most beloved sellouts would have to be Snoop Dogg. Known for his rap classics “Drop it Like it’s Hot”, and “Nothin But a G Thang”, the artist has gradually become more of a TV personality than an artist. Over the past decade his most memorable hit would likely be his feature on Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” and that in and of itself can be considered a sellout. Artists are no longer making the type of income they used to given the ability to stream music for free and have had to turn to other revenue streams for profit. Amidst countless licensing and endorsement deals including Happy Socks, his own weed brand “Leafs”, iPhone cases, hats, vaporizers, slippers and candles, I think his most substantial sellout was his TV team-up with Martha Stewart for “Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party”.
When I first heard wind of this show I immediately thought it was a rumor. What could be more outlandish than Snoop and Martha on a cooking channel? To my surprise, it was real. Although I’ve yet to watch an episode it is apparently doing very well which is likely due to Snoop’s larger than life personality. The artist has had a very successful 30-year career. Given his age I feel as though he is doing whatever he can to stay relevant. Although many people would claim Snoop to be a sellout, there’s no denying he is absolutely hilarious and entertaining to watch.
