In the age of the internet, where people have an ever increasing amount of exposure, celebrities and tastemakers are frequently setting the trends of what is ‘in’ and what is not. More often than not, this exposure is used by celebrities for good, to endorse charities and raise awareness of hundreds of causes. From the ‘ice bucket challenge’, where celebrities and the public alike spread an incredible amount of awareness for motor neurone disease, to YouTube star Pewdiepie, who raised $1 million for a variety of charities – including the World Wildlife Fund. The outreach of celebrities online is far, but do they always use their exposure for good?
The Kardashians are renowned for their success as public figures, a status which they have received entirely through media exposure. Between their whole family they are responsible for the promotion of a whole host of products across their social media – but not all of these products are cruelty free. Most of the Kardashian family are well known for being wearers of real fur products, they probably have hundreds of designer coats filling their enormous wardrobes between them, and considering the amount of time they spend under the public eye, they are promoting the use and sale of these products even if they don’t mean to.
A product that frequently appears on the social media accounts of Kylie Jenner is mink false eyelashes. These eyelashes are made from real mink fur, and although it is claimed that the fur is harvested without harming the animals, there does appear to be evidence suggesting otherwise. Kylie’s promotion of these eyelashes is causing women to make a purchase, without even considering where the products are sourced from. A lot of people don’t even know that a mink is an animal?!
Kylie Jenner has promoted mink lashes but please don't buy them. These are the beautiful babies they're made from? pic.twitter.com/kIloVJyTWW
— Baby Animals (@BabyAnimalPics) July 31, 2016
It is understandable that these people want to make money from promoting products as part of their brand, and Kylie is not alone, a whole host of celebrities and YouTube makeup guru’s are also promoting these products, and at the same time promoting cruelty to animals.
Huda beauty posts about mink lashes all the time and everyone eats it all up but Kylie does it and everyone gets super pissed. Okay
— lindsey (@_lindsgay) July 31, 2016
Some people argue though, that these public figures are not claiming to be cruelty free, so aren’t really misleading anyone. But should these celebrities step up and accept responsibility for the damage they are causing endlessly recommending products with little to no detail on the background of the product? or is it our own responsibility, to research where the products we are buying come from and make our own call before purchasing.
However what if they do claim to be cruelty free, and even promote vegan brands like Peta? As part of a campaign including many celebrities, Khloe Kardashian posed naked for Peta billboards and print adverts, focused on discouraging people from wearing real animal fur. Maybe not all the Kardashians are bad?
Maybe not. Unfortunately this was pretty short lived, and after a protester who had ties to Peta attacked her sister Kim, Khloe cut ties with them. This wouldn’t be all bad, but she then went on to wear real fur, so it almost seems like the whole campaign was for her own publicity. Khloe used her exposure for good, but continues to send mixed messages continuing to wear real fur and leather products.
Leave a Reply