Gwen Stefani Plugs HP
March 4th, 2008, 4 Comments »
I know this is a recurring theme on this site, but rest assured I don’t post here every time I see an artist exploiting their fame to promote products. I know I’m tilting at windmills, but I find it deeply distasteful and, often, an unprincipled decision by the artist. I’ll spare you the usual Neil Young citation.
The latest example is Gwen Stefani shilling for HP:
I wonder if she dreamed of pimping printers back when she was in a little Anaheim ska band? Did visions of glossy paper float through her head when she slept in the back of the van? I found this quote from Ms. Stefani, from back in March, 2005:
“Y’know someone one time called me a cheerleader, negatively, and I’ve never been a cheerleader. So I was, like, ‘OK, fuck you. You want me to be a cheerleader? Well, I will be one then. And I’ll rule the whole world, just you watch me.’”
She’s ruling the world, one colour laser jet at a time. I wonder how much she makes for this campaign? And does she really need the money?
As a side note, I saw this ad on TSN’s video site. This is probably a secondary broadcast medium for the ad, but it’s interesting to think about whether the Gwen Stefani + HP Printers + TSN equation makes sense. Particularly when, strangely, they’re promoting Stefani-themed paper dolls. Bizarre.