The year 2016 was marked by a rise in celebrity commodity culture. Famous celebrities such as Kyle Jenner, Kanye West and Beyoncé Knowles have launched the Kylie Cosmetics, Yeezy Line and Ivy Park merchandise lines respectively. At the height of this trend was President Trump's Make America Great Again merchandise, popularized during the 2016 presidential campaign. It was interesting to see popular stores like Kid Rock announce their decision to add Trump-related products in response to the overwhelming question (Khan, 2017). While drawing on the concept of material culture highlighted in Kendall's (2016) work, it is arguable that the cultural vogue for celebrity merchandise is here to stay. This argument is based on the awareness that technology has assumed a central position in the propagation of material culture. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The concept of material culture is responsible for popularizing the commodity culture of celebrities. Kendall (2016) material culture covers tangible creations such as fashion items created, accepted and shared by members of a particular society. Typically, material culture is shaped by non-material components such as values, norms, language, and symbols. For example, Trump-related products were popularized by the values and expectations underlying the historical concept of the American Dream (Khan, 2017). This example is prompted by the reality that Americans view their country as a land of opportunity where every hard-working citizen can achieve relative success in their respective areas of business. Material culture is transforming the commodity culture of celebrity into a kind of cultural universal. Kendall (2016) defines cultural universals as widely accepted customs or values that differentiate a specific society from other societies. For example, celebrity commodity culture is almost becoming a cultural universal that defines contemporary American society. Lea-Greenwood (2013) supports this example by arguing that fashion retailers such as Nike and Adidas have perfected the art of using celebrities as brand ambassadors. Based on the success of celebrity endorsements, major celebrities have realized that they can also launch their own fashion lines. This argument is underlined by the example of Jenner, West and Knowles discussed in the introductory paragraph. In the future, celebrities will continue to use their influence to craft new proscriptive norms that will likely continue to shape consumer habits in welcoming societies like the United States. This argument is supported by Kendall's (2016) position that proscriptive norms are a set of unwritten rules that shape human behavior in a society. Technological advances have also accelerated the cultural vogue for celebrity merchandise. Kendall (2016) indicates that technological advances such as social media, online payment gateways, and online shopping carts have made it easy for people to access and share information about popular cultural trends. For example, prominent celebrities such as Jenner, West and Knowles use social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat to reach and influence the purchasing habits of their fans. In fact, social media has become more of a culture unto itself. This argument draws from Kendall's (2016) argument that culture is “… the knowledge, language, values, customs, and material objects that are transmitted from person to person.
tags