Our media are saturated with celebrity and there's no doubt that entertainment value is an enormous part of the appeal of programming and editorial about famous stars. But there is also a practical benefit in all this. Very large numbers of people use stars as role models and nowhere is this more evident than in the area of personal appearance. Despite the enormous diversity of human beings, how often do we see someone whom we feel strongly resembles someone else we know? Indeed, at the macro level there seem to be a relatively limited number of physical types. In the case of hair colour, for example, L'Oreal's Professionelle Artec Colorist Collection features just 12 specific colours to cover the complete spectrum of women's hair.
Celebrities are aspirational examples and at any given time there will be a star archetype for a particular hair colour, which can offer more ordinary people a useful role model. It's no accident that there is always a position for top Hollywood or TV stars with blonde (Cameron Diaz, Sharon Stone, Marilyn Monroe), brunette (Penelope Cruz, Halle Berry), black (Angelina Jolie, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Elizabeth Taylor) and auburn (Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts) hair as these represent the major groupings in society. And within each of these hair colour types there is the opportunity for segmentation in terms of hair type and cut.
An informal survey conducted via the IPA website revealed that 84% of the respondents had at one time or another been told that they look like a famous person. Much of human behaviour, and specifically purchasing, can be attributed to the desire to improve presentation and desirability. When someone identifies with a celebrity from a physical point of view, they may see an enhanced fantasy reflection of themselves in the media and imitate the things the star has done to make the most of their appearance in their own case. This is a relentless process with famous people under constant scrutiny as they rise in the bloom of youth and then inevitably succumb to the ageing process. Then their position as an archetype and role model in the pantheon of stars is usurped by a younger model who has stolen their fickle public. From this we can see the way in which the hair, makeup and, indeed, fashion industries operate in relation to the celebrities they constantly generate and which customers support through emulation and the purchasing that this entails.
And of course photography is crucial and has generated celebrities of its own, with the cameramen who helped make the models famous becoming famous themselves. The work of star photographer of celebrities, Mario Testino, who produced iconic photographs of Diana, Princess of Wales, was sufficiently well regarded to be celebrated at an exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery in 2003. This mass preoccupation with personal appearance has generated enormous industries. The global market for hair care products is estimated to be worth US Dollars 35.2 billion a year, while in Europe it amounts to some 12.72 billion Euros and in the UK alone customers spend British Pounds 1061 million on making the best of what they have got on top. In addition, the hairdressing and salon business is worth US Dollars 3110 million in the USA and British Pounds 59.4 million in the UK, where in Central London alone there are over 1000 hair salons! These are truly astonishing sums of money and it means that on average each individual in the UK is spending British Pounds 55 per year on shampoos, conditioners and other hair treatments.
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Darleen Carlsson at 07192010
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