Celebrities have great influence on people. Companies use celebrity endorsements, as they know that celebrities can influence people to buy the company’s product. Besides product endorsement, celebrities have a personal platform that can be used to influence people. During the golden globes in 2020, Joaquin Phoenix used his platform to support issues in environmental advocacy. While he talked about the worrying situation in Australia surrounding the wildfires, he also spoke about the decision of the Golden Globes to have vegan food for the night. Veganism can help combat carbon emissions and climate change, however Phoenix also spoke about the hypocrisy within celebrity culture in that celebrities should be aware of other ways in which they contribute to carbon emissions. Phoenix mentioned an example of how many celebrities contribute to carbon emissions through the use of private jets. Celebrities should be more aware of their contribution to carbon emissions and be more educated on the topic, as they are influencers to people in society.
Influencers have the ability to make a large impact on society and especially young people. Around 2016, many of my friends and myself went vegan. Most of our inspiration came from vegan celebrities, however since we were not educated on the topic, we did not continue with our diet. Part of the problem with celebrity influence and the environmental movement is that, many times celebrities do not educate the person about why the action is important. This is often because the celebrity is also not educated on the topic. The follower is usually influenced by seeing an influencer who is happy and wealthy, but they do not understand the impact of their actions. When a celebrity influences people to be vegan and they do not explain the reason that it is important for the environment, it actually can be hurtful to the environmental movement. People usually do not commit to habits that they do not understand the importance of. When people are told that they should change their habits but they do not understand the reason why, then they often do not continue the new habits, and they may feel like they have failed, morally. This can lead to frustration for the public and turn people away from the environmental movement.
I experienced this with my friends when we decided to stop veganism, we felt as though we failed morally. However we were just uneducated as to why we should be vegan. The actual facts about how a plant based diet impacts carbon emissions is more influential to me as a reason to be vegan, rather than someone saying be vegan or you are a bad person. The aim of “if you are not vegan then you are a bad person” was often used by influencers. That aim never worked on me, and I was not able to commit to a vegetarian diet until I started studying ecology. Education is key component in the fight against climate change, as any people who are not supporters of lowering their own carbon emissions are usually people who are uneducated on the topic.
Celebrities deeming people who are not vegan as being people who do not care about the environment are hypocritical for the reason that Phoenix spoke of, when he brought up the usage of private jets. Some influencers call out the public for not being vegan, but they ride in private jets which contribute more per passenger than commercial planes do to carbon emissions. The problem is that the approach to call people out for not being perfect only drives people away from the environmental movement. People are more likely to be accepting of the movement, if they feel that they are able to participate without being judged. Influencers should do their best to lower their own carbon emissions, and not only support the environmental movement when it is convenient for them.
People should work together to try their best to contribute less to carbon emissions. Rather than taking an approach that makes people feel like they have failed morally, we should use an educational approach. Celebrities who truly want to use their platform to support lowering carbon emissions to combat climate change should use their platform to educate people about ways that they can lower their emissions. As well as Influencers who want to contribute to the environmental movement should also lead by example and try to keep their carbon emissions lowered by lessening the use of private jets and eating a plant-based diet. Society is more likely to change their habits, if they are educated about the reason why they should change. With the importance of the environmental movement, influencers can have a large impact by having a platform for environmental advocacy. It will be more beneficial for influencers to use their platform to help educate people especially through example. When it comes to issues like climate change, it is also important to take advice from scientific experts, rather than celebrities, as misinformation is easily spread.
