With over 16.5 million subscribers and almost 2 billion views, makeup artist Jeffree Star has become one of the most popular beauty channels on Youtube. Jeffree is known for reviewing products released by the beauty industry and promoting his own cosmetics company through everyday makeup tutorials, collaborations with other popular Youtubers, and subscriber meet and greets. In addition, his channel features almost every aspect of his personal life, with content ranging from vacations with his boyfriend to surgical procedures of his body modifications. Jeffree can thus be understood and studied as an influencer, which is a “high-profile Internet microcelebrity” that utilizes the internet to “accumulate a relatively large following on blogs and social media through the textual and visual narration of their personal lives and lifestyles, engage with their following in digital and physical spaces, and monetize their following” (Abidin, 2015, p. 1). Throughout the last four years, Jeffree has strategically used his channel to foster the growth of his cosmetics company and now has a net worth of 54 million dollars (Tenbarge, 2019). In response to the public’s increasing desire for an exclusive look inside his cosmetics company, Jeffree collaborated with Shane Dawson, a popular Youtuber known for creating documentaries, to share information about the beauty industry and document the creation of a new eyeshadow palette in series titled The Secret World of Jeffree Star. While this documentary was intended to inform subscribers about Jeffree’s life as a queer business mogul, the series “create[s] a sense of intimacy” with Jeffree’s cosmetics company that Abdin Crystal would argue is “ultimately motivated by underlying commercial interests” (2015, p. 7).
References
Abidin, C. (2015). Communicative <3 intimacies: Influencers and perceived interconnectedness. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, & Technology, (8). Retrieved from: http://adanewmedia.org/2015/11/issue8-abidin/
Dawson, S., & Star, J. (2019, October 4). The secrets of the beauty world [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR5r_Bna1eI&t=2180s
Marshall, P. D. (2014). Tools for the analysis of the celebrity as a form of cultural power. In Celebrity and Power (pp. 51-76). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Tenbarge, K. (2019, November 1). YouTuber with little makeup experience is about to rake in millions with his new beauty collection, showing the power of viral fame. Retrieved November 11, 2019, from Insider website: https://www.insider.com/buy-shane-dawson- jeffree-star-conspiracy-palette-collection
In the six-part documentary series, which has accumulated over 100 million views since its release, viewers are invited to learn about the 500 billion dollar beauty industry and watch the evolution of an eyeshadow palette from start to finish. Throughout the episode titled “The 3 Secrets of the Beauty World,” Jeffree and Shane create a sense of intimacy through the exchange of exclusive “secrets” about the beauty industry and illustrate Abdin Crystal’s claim that many “influencers practice a feminine labor that hinges on commercial intimacies” (2015, p. 6) In the episode, Jeffree releases confidential personal information and concrete proof that many makeup companies like TooFaced have historically exploited internet influencers. In addition, Shane publicly discusses his underperforming financial situation and admits how has been repeatedly taken advantage of by merchandise companies. In sharing these selective narratives, Jeffree and Shane control how they are represented and manipulate their subscribers by “extending revelations into the backstage “behind the scenes” and the use of personal voice to convey intimacy” (2015, p. 10). The release of this confidential information creates the illusion of an intimate exchange and allows the subscribers to become emotionally invested in their eyeshadow palette project.
As the episode progresses, Jeffree and Shane are shown designing the palette and tailoring it to their specific brands as influencers. As P.D. Marshall might agree, this is an important process because celebrities can be viewed as a brand or text: “The celebrity sheds its own subjectivity and individuality and becomes an organizing structure for conventionalized meaning” (2014, p. 55). Jeffree and Shane attempt to reproduce their connotative associations by personalizing the palette and giving it a new meaning outside of “just makeup.” For instance, Jeffree’s brand represents self-love, queer pride, and camp, and he included his iconic hot pink star logo in the palette. Meanwhile, Shane is often associated with his lovable snorting laugh and designed one palette shade to have an imprint of a pig. As they reproduce their brands through logos and various forms of symbolism, the palette becomes more of a cultural text rather than “just makeup.” The palette represents Jeffree and Shane as influencers, and viewers become 4 emotionally invested in their personal stories in addition to the journey of creating the palette.The audience thus gives the palette a heightened cultural significance, where all of the power “is derived from the collective configuration of its meaning; in other words, the audience is central in sustaining the power of any celebrity sign” (Marshall, 2014, p. 56). Subscribers who do not even wear makeup may want to buy the palette because of what it represents and to be a part of their story.
After releasing the documentary in six parts, which generated hype around the palette all over the internet, the product finally launched on November 1st of 2019. While it is clear that Jeffree and Shane’s documentary helped increase the transparency of their personal lives and the beauty industry as a whole, it is obvious that they capitalized on intimacy and were somewhat motivated by commerce. As Crystal Abidin would emphasize, Jeffree and Shane leveraged the documentary series for financial gain: “it is possible for intimacies between influencers and followers to be motivated by commerce or elaborately curated as long as followers (who may or may not be critically aware of these) feel familiar, close, and emotionally attached to influencers” (2015, p. 6). On the day of the palette’s release, Jeffree and Shane broke world records when they sold 1.1 million eye shadow pallets and hundreds of thousands of merchandize items in less than 30 minutes (Tenbarge, 2019). Since Jeffree and Shane chose to sell a palette in addition to creating a documentary about Jeffree’s cosmetics company, the series as used to sell millions of products to consumers that developed a strong relationship to themselves as influencers and the product.
References
Abidin, C. (2015). Communicative <3 intimacies: Influencers and perceived interconnectedness. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, & Technology, (8). Retrieved from: http://adanewmedia.org/2015/11/issue8-abidin/
Dawson, S., & Star, J. (2019, October 4). The secrets of the beauty world [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR5r_Bna1eI&t=2180s
Marshall, P. D. (2014). Tools for the analysis of the celebrity as a form of cultural power. In Celebrity and Power (pp. 51-76). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Tenbarge, K. (2019, November 1). YouTuber with little makeup experience is about to rake in millions with his new beauty collection, showing the power of viral fame. Retrieved November 11, 2019, from Insider website: https://www.insider.com/buy-shane-dawson- jeffree-star-conspiracy-palette-collection
Colin, I really enjoyed your post on Jeffree Star, and the many facts helped me gage a greater understanding of his widespread popularity. I would definitely agree that Jeffree Star is an influencer, and I think your application of Abidin’s definitions of an influencer support your claim. I also liked the connection you made to Marshall’s views on celebrities and their presentation by the culture industry as symbols and brands. In one part of your post, you discuss Jeffree and Shane’s collaboration and how they infused deeper meanings into their eyeshadow palette, making it more than just makeup but a symbol of their personal beliefs. I would add to this idea that instilling deeper meanings established a sense of authenticity surrounding the product, which I believe increased its attractiveness to consumers. Furthermore, I think your statement regarding consumer agency in sustaining celebrity brand, products, and status is critical in conveying the nature of relationships between influencers and their fans. One note I have for the post is that you briefly mention both camp and hype in relation to Jeffree Star but do not elaborate on those two elements. I agree that those are two elements clearly embodied by this influencer and that both could have been further applied in this case. For example, many of Sontag's definitions of camp would be perfect descriptors of Jeffree’s efforts, as he embodies the essence of camp and its “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” Lastly, I admired how you addressed that in the case of Jeffree Star, while his influencer relationship with his fans is grounded in intimacy, this intimacy is mobilized by commercial incentives. I think it is important to be aware as a viewer and consumer that while commercial incentives may not dictate the nature of Jeffree’s relationships with his fans, they still exist. Overall, I thought you made several great connections between the readings and your topic choice. - Dylan Massoni
ReplyDeleteCollin- This blog post captured my attention because I also wrote mine on Jeffree Star. I find it fascinating how we both wrote about the same person, yet managed to produce two very different blogs. I think that the inclusion of Abidin’s point about intimacy is spot on. There is something about Jeffree Star that feels familiar and personable. His raw reviews are admirable, yet this series with Shane Dawson unveiled a whole new side of his personality.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, I think you did a great job of identifying how Jeffree has been a queer icon for many people. His defiance of gender stereotypes is seen in his products (which you pointed out in his campy Shane Dawson collab) and his clothing. His “brand represents self-love, queer pride, and camp”. However, I think that it is important to acknowledge his racist past. Yes, he has made many apologies and now is admired by many people, but those videos of him are unacceptable. He should be held accountable.
Furthermore, I think that you could have gone into a little bit more detail about the actual product itself. Think about Jeffree as a businessman and how he utilizes consumer differentiation. Is this pallet truly different from other pallets? Is it just an illusion that you have a new and improved wide range of colors when you buy a new pallet?
That being said, overall you did a great job of connecting the authors to your research. I would love to talk to you in more detail about Jeffree and his business
Works Cited:
Abidin, C. (2015). Communicative <3 intimacies: Influencers and perceived interconnectedness. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, & Technology, (8). Retrieved from: http://adanewmedia.org/2015/11/issue8-abidin/
Horkheimer, M., & Adorno, T. W. (2017). The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. Karl Marx, 405-424. Doi: 10.4324/9781315251196-23
Colin* sorry it autocorrected
DeleteColin, the topic you chose interest me a lot. Nowadays, the makeup Vloggers like Jeffree Star go viral. In order to gain benefits from their videos, they need to cooperate with different bands, which gives birth to “promotional Vlogs”. Because of the identification and affection for Vloggers, the fans will trust the Vloggers and follow their lifestyles since they regard the Vloggers as an idealized self. Naturally, the products advertised by Vloggers are widely exposed and advertised, which gives a boost to the consumption of the product. Stars like Jeffree Star have already become a symbol and have their own brands, which can be endowed with further meanings according to their own stories, as it is mentioned in your blog post. Jeffree’s success on his documentary is a useful model for other makeup Vloggers. If the Vloggers just keep sharing their positive feedbacks for the products, the audience can find the Vlogs fake. But the intimacies between influencers and followers can make followers feel familiar, close, and emotionally attached to influencers.
ReplyDeleteIf we look from the other side, what do Vlogs do to the audience? As it is mentioned before, the audience have a great tendency to consume products promoted by their favorite Vloggers. This can cause commodity fetishism. When we value something, what we concern about is beyond its use value. And as Marshall mentioned, celebrity is a site of false value and serves to placate the individuals to accept the modern condition. Just as it is said in your blog post, subscribers who do not even wear makeup may want to buy the palette because of what it represents and to be a part of their story. Excessive affection can seriously impair analysis, leading to false needs of the market.
Works Cited:
Abidin, C. (2015). Communicative <3 intimacies: Influencers and perceived interconnectedness. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, & Technology, (8). Retrieved from: http://adanewmedia.org/2015/11/issue8-abidin/
Marshall, P. D. (2014). Tools for the analysis of the celebrity as a form of cultural power. Pp. 51-76 in Celebrity and Power. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
-Xinyi Wu
Colin, I’m so glad you decided to write about Jeffree and Shane’s palette release because I’m one of the people who actually bought it. I didn’t know that there were 1.1 million palettes sold in 30 minutes! I remember that while I was buying the products multiple beauty websites- not just Jeffree’s- kept crashing from the amount of people shopping. I definitely agree that the palette has meanings that go beyond makeup and beauty. I feel like this phenomenon can also be applicable to Walter Benjamin’s ideas about aura and cult of personality (Benjamin, 1936). This palette has a strong aura being that its a product of a collaboration with Shane Dawson, a beloved and well known Youtuber. Shane Dawson has a specific brand of going over conspiracy theories and this documentary stays true to that with its allure of revealing the “secrets” of the beauty world.
ReplyDeleteYour idea of how this documentary served as a marketing technique for the palette also goes well with Laurie Oulette and Susan Murray’s concepts of “the commercialization of the real” (Oulette and Murray, 2009). Instead of having “beauty gurus” describe the process, we have non-gurus like Shane go on a journey and take us with them creating a bond. I can say that being a fan of Shane Dawson I was proud to see him go through this hard work and have success. He was very raw and made sure he was reflecting and sharing his emotions with the audience throughout the series making people like me feel for him.
Overall, your blog was great and very insightful!- Ashley Blanco Liz
Hello Colin!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post about the documentary series about the Jeffree Star and Shane Dawson collaboration. I particularly agree with your point about how this documentary created as sense of intimacy in order to foster commercial interests — after all, this documentary series was made in order to raise awareness about the palette and essentially sell it to the consumers. Even after the release of the palette, YouTubers released many videos talking about the palette or the troubles that the site had, which garnered more attention towards the documentary and palette. However, I would also like to point out the guest lecture that about the future of trends where she mentioned that there is a trend of becoming more transparent with the consumers due to consumers becoming more conscious about the products that they use or consume. Putting both into thought, although Jeffree and Shane used the YouTube platform in order to appeal to their audiences to sell more palettes, they were also able to educate the public and open conversations regarding the production industry of makeup.
I personally really enjoyed keeping up with the documentary and it made me re-think how much effort went into making every product; but it also made me think about how so many products could have the sense of sameness — as in the documentary, Shane was essentially picking colors for his palette from the Pantone color chips. Regardless, Shane and Jeffree were able to create an amazing palette and help me think about more about the big corporations that do not take ethical procedures to produce their products.
— Jamie Lee
Colin, great work! I enjoyed your blog post on Jeffree Star. I have watched a couple of Star’s videos, but I didn’t know about the documentary “The Secret World of Jeffree Star.” I enjoyed how your review discussed the sometimes hidden commercial motivation behind Star’s beauty line and documentary. The series gives fans an intimate look into the production of his makeup palette creating a fabricated “sense of intimacy” (Abidin, 2015). Afterall, Jeffree Star is an “influencer.” In his videos, he looks for opportunities to promote advertorials and his products. I found it interesting how you brought up the “secrets” Shane and Star were exchanging. In the documentary, the two take time to explain the harmful relationship makeup companies and influencers share. Shane’s channel, specifically, is dependent on conspiracy theories, secrets and private information he willingly shares with his viewership. However, the sharing of this “private” information manipulates viewers and creates a false sense of truth. Although these two share facts that expose other companies, they are only presenting one view of the situation. Furthermore, by presenting certain facts, they are creating a certain view of their brand. Now, subscribers feel an emotional obligation to defend and buy their products. I agree with your analysis and believe that this can be extremely harmful to the followers. Additionally, I enjoyed your comparison of Jeffree and Shane to a physical brand. Their pallette’s meaning transcends beyond makeup. The eyeshadow palette represents them; it is hardly eyeshadow. And I believe that fans will buy into that quality specifically. I enjoyed your in-depth analysis of both the documentary and their product. Well done.
ReplyDelete- Nola Riina
References:
Abidin, C. (2015). Communicative <3 intimacies: Influencers and perceived interconnectedness. Ada: A Journal of Gender, New Media, & Technology, (8). Retrieved from: http://adanewmedia.org/2015/11/issue8-abidin/