Jefree Star is a 33 year old entrepreneur and beauty Youtuber who has
taken the platform by storm. Starting off as the face of MySpace, Star
published his new music and gained a large following. His target audience
consisted of punk rock enthusiasts and outcasts who had a desire to consume his
raw and raunchy music (Shamsian, 2019) However, due to various legal issues, he was forced to leave the music
industry in 2013. (Shamsian, 2019) Although Star’s Youtube channel was created
in 2006, his career did not take off until 2013. (Dixon, 2018). Star quickly
gained subscribers as the majority of his MySpace followers switched over to
the innovative platform. Unfortunately, his career nearly derailed in 2017 when
a controversial video of him making racist remarks resurfaced. (Bryant, 2019) To counteract the negative publicity, he
apologized, stating, "I say some really disgusting...and embarrassing
things...Those videos were 12 years ago and I look at them and it just makes me
sick to my stomach." (Dixon, 2018) After his public apology, Star
continued producing his original content on Youtube, which varies from
innovative makeup looks, detailed reviews of makeup products and lengthy videos
on his personal life. Specifically, Star represented different parts of his
personality in his tattoos. (Dixon, 2018) Overtime, Star began to create a
story along his body, expressing his emotions with the absence of dialogue.
This form of self expression attracted many tattoo enthusiasts to his channel
and united an audience that fully appreciated the art form.
Star’s main audience
ranges from women ages 13-40. Star also attracts viewers that can be
categorized as members of the lgbtq+ community, makeup enthusiasts, vegans (his
products are 100% vegan) and those with a more liberal mindset. (Dixon, 2018)
Star’s makeup products have references to classic movies, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1971),
Jawbreaker (1999) which appeal to the
older age group (Jeffree Star, 2019). His use of sexual language and innuendos
for his products appeals to rule breakers and to those who defy societal
constructs.(Dixon, 2018) Additionally, his sexualization of men, women and
gender fluid models in his advertisements appeals to a younger, liberal
audience. His own openess about his sexuality and androgynous appearance
attracts various members of the LGBTQ+ community (Dixon, 2018).
An intriguing part of Jeffree’s reviews
are his brutally honest remarks peppered with raunchy humor and 2019
vernacular. His makeup reviews are
consistently real, no matter how close he is to a brand. Often beauty
gurus are afraid to express their opinions due to a fear of backlash from
corporations, which can jeopardize endorsement deals and future income.(
Shamsian, 2019) However, Star defies
these constructs, which gives him an edge. Author Christian Lorentzen does not
“think that negative reviews, even snarky ones, are toxic”, thus painting
reviewers like Jeffree in a positive light (Lorentzen, 2019) Because Star’s
reviews are both positive and negative, he builds trust with his audience. This
incentivizes more viewers to subscribe to his channel, for they are able to
assess if a product is worth purchasing. Currently Jeffree has over 16 million
subscribers and is reaching new levels of success everyday (
Through Star’s ever increasing success,
he realized the profitability of his platform. While certain Youtubers make
their money solely from endorsements or AdSense, Star harnessed the power of
his channel to promote his own beauty and makeup brand. Scrolling through his
channel, it is clear that the products that he produces fall under the category
of being camp. According to Susan Sontag, camp “is the love of
the exaggerated, the "off," of things-being-what-they-are-not.”
(Sontag, 1964). This is clear in one of his
videos entitled “Jawbreaker 🍭 Palette &
Summer 2019 Collection Reveal!” Within this video, Jeffree Star showcases his
“biggest pilot to date” (Jeffree Star, 2019) A key component of this collection
is the new neon lip ammunition set. From an outsider's perspective, it is clear
that the shape of these lipsticks closely resembles a phallus. (Jeffree Star,
2019) Star’s lip ammunitions emphasize the essence of camp as they are
lipsticks transformed into a new shape. Additionally, these products go “beyond
straight seriousness” by embodying the themes of irony and satire (Sontag,
1964). It is ironic that the lipsticks
are in the shape of traditional symbols of male virility and dominance.
In
addition to using humor, Star utilizes various marketing tools to entice viewers
to buy his products. He successfully employs “emotional appeal” and consumer
differentiation (management study guide editors). By referencing older makeup
products from his line, he creates an emotional appeal and enhances viewers’
desire for something new. This is seen in his explanation of how his new shade
of “a bone yellow tone white” differs from the white eyeshadow in his older
pallets (Jeffree Star, 2019). In addition, he utilizes the concept of consumer
differentiation by “classifying, organising, and labelling” these products.
(Adorno and Horkheimer, 1944)
Star
wants to give you the illusion of choice if you buy both eyeshadow pallets by
claiming that the products are different from each other. This video, in
particular, is a 27 minute sales pitch of his new launch. It closely resembles
a QVC commercial, which suggests that Youtube is a viable marketing tool.
Overall, it is clear that Jeffree succeeded in building on his own fame by
using himself as a brand.
Bryant, K. (2019, April 3). Beauty YouTuber Jeffree Star,
Internet Infamy, and a Multi-Million-Dollar Makeup Heist. Retrieved from
https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2019/04/jeffree-star-million-dollar-makeup-heist.
Dixon, C.-M. L. (2018, July 2). What you don't know about
Jeffree Star. Retrieved from https://www.thelist.com/124802/dont-know-jeffree-star/.
Horkheimer, M., & Adorno, T. W. (2017). The Culture
Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. Karl
Marx, 405-424. Doi: 10.4324/9781315251196-23
Lorentzen,
C. (2019, March 19). [Criticism] Like This or Die. Retrieved from https://harpers.org/archive/2019/04/like-this-or-die/.
MSG Management Study Guide. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.managementstudyguide.com/advertising-techniques.htm.
Notes On "Camp". (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Sontag-NotesOnCamp-1964.html.
Shamsian, J. (2019, October 4). Inside YouTuber Jeffree Star's
incredible rise from teen MySpace star to a makeup mogul raking in millions.
Retrieved from
https://www.insider.com/who-is-jeffree-star-cosmetics-youtube-2019-4#star-first-became-famous-on-myspace-2.
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