This year has brought a rash of celebrity weddings that dominated the media. From William and Kate to this past weekend’s Kim Kardashian nuptuals, the messages have been about making the day bigger and more extravagant, criticizing everything from the dress to the guest list. But the hype is just that – hype.
Fairytales Are Still Just Tales
The royal wedding back in April was a ratings coup, with 22.77 million Americans tuning in at odd hours of the morning to watch the ceremony on television. Groups of women were gathering at houses to throw royal wedding parties just so they could feel like a princess for a day. The mainstream media ate it up, with every single news outlet leading with that story, while the 24-hour news networks had near-continuous coverage. What are women taking away from this?
Celebrities Gone Wild
Kim Kardashian’s wedding this past weekend to a basketball player was attended by a horde of famous folks, but it was preceded by daily coverage of her dress (which was being compared to Kate Middleton’s dress, of course) and who was invited. Nevermind that the 20.5 karat ring she received was most likely not conflict-free, nor that the already rich couple could just easily tell their rich guests to not buy them gifts but to donate to charity instead – it was all about the ceremony, the details, and all the post-wedding coverage will revolve around getting a more affordable version of Kardashian’s designer dress.
We’ve already talked about how media watching and advertising will be rising in the next few years – we can see the downhill slide already. But the best way to curb the media messages is to take a minute to think about what they’re trying to tell you. Even telling friends in a fun, accepting way to really think about what they’re watching can make a difference.
How do you let people know “Don’t believe the hype”? Like us on Facebook and tell us!
