Now, Before you say,
“BuT StAcEy ThEy ArE CeLeBrItIeS”
Yes. I understand. I follow quite a few of them on social medias and I have no problem with that, This is one of the only things that I find to be super annoying when I see a celebrity I follow do this.
It really grinds my gears when celebrities are posting promotional items and they are far beyond the price point for the average consumer.
There I said it. I absolutely hate it. For example:
I follow a hockey wife on Instagram. I enjoy a lot of her content from the little things she does with her kids and the time spent juggling between the USA and Canada. What really is annoying though is she will promote all of these things. Mind you, she never normally uses the “#Ad” but she will write in different promo codes for people to use. Which is great! But when looking at the price of things before they even have a discount, I quickly discovered that the discount code would MAYBE pay for taxes. She even had this natural baby and child care line. I thought, oh hey let me check this out, I am a mom now after all! So I went to check it out, It was even a Canadian company. Well, I nearly fell over. The products that they were promoting were a few hundred dollars and the very least was about 70$ per item. There was no way I could justify spending that type of money on skin care and what have you for my son. Considering we are currently a one income house hold with one of my goals for 2021 being to gain some sort of an income financially. Even if I achieve my goal of 250-500 dollars per month financially I don’t even think that I could justify buying those.
And before, People are sitting there and saying in the comments that these people can buy what they want and blah blah blah. I understand that these people have a family income of tens of thousands if not more per month. From endorsements, to salary, to sponsorships and whatever else they are doing to bring money in. I just am a firm believe that if you are in a position of influence like you are trying to market yourself to the average housewife then putting things only for the higher income houses is just not something I am personally interested in. It will make me un-follow someone quickly.
I think this also plays into marketing as well. If you want to make the public see yourself as a brand that is marketed towards the typical housewife who stays at home looking after kids and has business ventures coming and going from time to time, marketing yourself with products that the average woman cannot afford is tough. I say this as I think to myself often that if I was to have sponsorships or endorsements come my way, I would like to think if this blog were to blow up with thousands of people following myself that I would make sure I was able to appeal to the general person who is reading this. Not someone who is making a 6 figure income. I would make sure that even if I was making money that the person who is at house taking care of children relying on just one income would be able to afford a purchase with little saving if they wanted to do so.
Obviously get sponsors and get endorsements from who you want even if you are catering to readers who are in the higher income household. However I would have a lot more respect if these people also offered a cheaper alternative. I see this a lot with clothing and it is one thing I do enjoy about the blog of this particular celebrity wife. I think it is great that they show a type of clothing that they have gotten and the cheaper price tag, or if people show an interest they even post the original and a knock off piece that looks the same. This is a great thing to see when influencers are trying to appeal to everyone.
Another thing that grinds my gears is a lot of these celebrity bloggers want to appeal to the general population. not other celebrities. I understand that they want to look professional as a blogger. I know I do. However, when they put photos on their blogs, they have perfect makeup, clothes, children, hair has not one strand in a different place. It is obvious that there is professional photography and sometimes they even mention it as well about having a photo shoot that day. The reality is that there is no perfect day. I know I am starting to try to include photos about my blog and relating to the posts however I know for a fact if I ever start taking photos that are perfect looking rest assured that I have not gotten a photographer. Not to mention my boyfriend has a pretty decent camera so if for some reason my phone camera photos are not good enough then I will start to ask him to take these photos.
Before I finish this, Don’t get me wrong. Whatever pays the bills you do it. But if you are a celebrity and you are trying to have this fake face about marketing to the population that is a lower income or a “normal” household than do so! If you want to market to fellow celebrities, DO THAT TOO! It just is extremely disheartening when you are looking at a celebrity who is claiming to be down to earth and living a “normal” affordable lifestyle and when you click on the product you would like to purchase with their discount code of affiliate link only to find the product so over priced that you no longer can afford it. It really makes you feel bad when you cant do something you had a little bit of excitement for.
If you could have any sponsorship or endorsement what would it be?
Is there any you would avoid? Or know that you would decline?
Let me know in the comments below!
-StaySeeJ
Tag Archives: thoughts
The Great Remembrance Day and Christmas Debate
In Canada every single year around this time of year we see the great debate about whether or not you should put up your Christmas decorations before Remembrance Day or should you wait til after to do so.
Remembrance Day to Canada would be the same as Memorial Day in the USA, I do believe, Where you take a moment to remember all the fallen soldiers in the wars that have fought to protect the freedoms and rights of the people in our country. Normally around the country there is different ceremonies taking place (However with Covid-19 I don’t know how many are really doing different things or if they are going to be virtual as well). At 11am we take a few moments of silence where we really reflect on this. I am sure that there is also a lot of folks who don’t participate and well, that is their right to not take part. This is also why you may see on Canadian news stations that the broadcasters are wearing poppies. This has to do with the poem Flanders Fields and remembering as well. That is a whole different blog post though.
Now here is the juicy drama. In Canada at least, Every year there is many people who have nothing better to do then to complain about the decorations being put out too soon. They say this for many reasons, One being that it takes away from Remembrance Day. Apparently if you decorate your home with Christmas lights and decorations you magically lose your memory and ability to remember fallen soldiers. I know, Crazy right. Actually crazy. Another reason is we so much want to commercialize the holidays. Since apparently every year right after Halloween you see Christmas Decorations earlier and earlier. I can see the argument of it being so early to jump from Halloween to Christmas. The stores and shops even have things started before Halloween is over by making their aisles blank and prepped for all of the Holiday things to be placed on the shelves waiting for suckers like me to come in and dump loads of money (Maybe not loads) on new things to decorate with every year. They would basically have a skull that screams when you walk by next to a batch of Christmas Tree lights or ornaments too.
If you notice, Or haven’t, I freaking LOVE Christmas. I decorate right after Halloween. The magic that is Christmas makes me feel extremely happy and when its over I am ready for my own place again. That being said. I don’t judge if people want to wait or put them up like I do. I put and have put them up every year on November 1st. Outside especially because normally the longer you wait the colder it gets and what fun would it be to put up Christmas lights in minus 20c. Not a lot. Not to mention I love gifting and prepping. Since I was a child I have loved it. Do I care what people say, No. I normally post a photo on Facebook about the tree being up and what not and I see the same people every year saying “Oh it is too early and its not right”. I even start on the posts to be reminding people about the golden rule, “If you have nothing nice to say don’t speak”, as my mom would remind me all the time. I even see people tag me in post saying if you decorate early than Santa kills an elf or something like that. Insert a HUGE eye roll here.
Fun Fact: If you were to ask the older generation about their thoughts for the decorating prematurely for the holidays. Chances are they wont really care. They went to war and to fight for our freedom. If they were to care that would be a bit hypocritical right. They don’t mind if they see decorations and things. They want us to show who we are and if we love Christmas and decorations why not show that off! There has even been articles online that I am sure you can find about people asking Veterans what their thoughts are because this is such a controversial subject up here that people just had to know what they thought about it. My grandfather was a vet and mind you, He would probably say it is super early for the decorations to be up, But I don’t think he would really mind or give someone a hard time about it. Not to mention, He tried to beat the system and he would keep his Christmas Lights up all year just unplug them so that he only had to plug them back in again come the next season.
Interestingly enough, in Quebec City apparently the mayor has offered up a refund of sorts to businesses to decorate early as well. For most, Christmas is a time of joy and family. And with Covid-19 around it really isn’t that great either. So by decorating it might make the city look a bit more festive and create some great vibes for everyone around. Not to mention how can you not smile when you are driving or walking around and seeing houses lit up in their own unique way with old school or the newest lights. I know this year my son will be about 9-10 months old and chances are he will fall asleep but we for sure will be doing an evening where we go driving around looking at Christmas lights none the less. Even just to say that we did it would be fun!
So as you can see, Canada has their little fights between citizens as well. Though the issues may not be as cray as some may think. It really is a downer. At the end of the day, Live and let live. Putting your decorations up early is not hurting anyone at all, again I know, crazy right. And if it makes you happy, whose to stand in the way of your happiness right!
-StaySeeJ
Subtitles in Movies. I’m a changed woman.
Once upon a time, There was a person who absolutely HATED subtitles. If something had to be watched with subtitles she wouldn’t watch them. She would find something new to watch and move on with her time. The culture and different movies that I am sure were great she would pass up and not watch because reading the scenes and lines instead of just listening and watching was a lot for her brain to handle. That person was me! Seriously, I HATED watching movies with subtitles. It was extremely difficult for me to follow along when I have to read the lines and not “focus” so to speak on the movie itself. Until one movie changed that!
One day I was watching Netflix and it became idle (Mom Life). One of the pictures that had popped up on the screen was of this movie that was seemingly horror called “The Platform”. Naturally being a horror and spooky film lover I decided to check it out. I read the mini bio of the film and thought ” WOW THIS IS GREAT!”. It was unlike any film I had seen before and thought it would be a great idea. Well, Guess what. It was not in English. I thought this is going to be a nightmare now I have to read the lines and story to actually understand it and I am not going to enjoy it. Yet the plot was so convincing and vague that I was still drawn in even if there was subtitles. So I watched it, and you know what? I FREAKING LOVED IT. This particular film was about a “punishment” centre where there were different levels where people change after 30 days. There is a platform of food that starts at the top and everyone in the spot is placed 2 people per level. They also write down their favorite food before they enter. Someone even chose to go to this place so they could quit a bad habit. Regardless this film has changed my ENTIRE view on Subtitles in films and series!
Since discovering this new world I have watched so many shows. More or less with my boyfriend once my son has gone to bed since watching a show or movie in a different language AND reading subtitles can be quit challenging when you are looking after a little fella as well. So most of the shows in different languages we watch are when he is in dream land. Now I will say, We have watched some shows in French. Such as, Marianne which is SCARY as anything and totally worth the binge. It only has one season currently but it is for sure worth the watch if you want something creepy. Coming from someone whose boyfriend absolutely HATES horror movies, or anything that is creepy, This was a winner for both of us and made us feel gross after watching it! Another show that we have also watched in French is Who Killed Little Gregory. Again another show in French and even though I do know French it was a lot easier to follow with subtitles mostly because France French is slightly different than Quebec French and I would miss certain terms and saying. This was a mini series about a boy who had gone missing and later was found killed. The whole story was easy to follow and the subtitles really helped.
Another show that we watched which is on Season Number 4 (I Think) which is currently being filmed is Elite. This show is in Spanish which neither my BF and I know but again, subtitles were huge and we really were into the entire series. I even liked it so much that I re-watched the entire thing with a friend online. It is more of a teen drama I would say,talking about rich kids and the slums and murder and scandals but it was a great show none the less though. We started watching an episode here and there once my son was born and we were doing the feeding before bedtime as well too.
My only downside I would say for subtitles is that there were times when they were delayed. Now Im not sure that it would be a connection issue or netflix themselves but I think if that could be a little bit better. It mostly has someone talking and by the time they are finished you have a flash of a subtitle and that fills the story in. However, If you are paying close enough attention you would know kind of what they were saying, But if it was an inside joke or something it would make things a bit more challenging and harder to pick up. Again, I am not sure the cause of this and which end it is. It also doesnt happen THAT often so I dont think it is a huge deal myself but it was worth mentioning though, Maybe some folks dont have this issue at all while others have it more!
Overall, If I am being completely honest. I have NO IDEA why I waited so long on subtitles. It was hard for me to wrap my head around having to read AND watch a show at the same time without missing what was happening or what was going on in the scene as well. I feel bad that I waited so long and probably missed out on a lot of things as well. I will say that I have a butt load of shows now on my Watch List waiting to be watched. With more than just French and Spanish on there as well too. and between you and I, well also my boyfriend because he agreed with what I am about to say too, We have probably enjoyed the shows that were NOT English more than the ones that were. I know, Super strange right, But when you are quarantined due to Covid-19 you really have to open up your horizons if you want to not get bored of the same shows over and over and over again!
-StaySeeJ08
Stacey J. Girard 