There has been much debate regarding the role of famous people in international aid campaigns. While from some people’s point of view, they believe that the appearance of celebrities in community projects can raise public awareness, others have a converse idea. From my perspective, I think that it depends on whether the one chosen has a good reputation or not.
Primarily, people having societal effects have the ability to help organizations become viral and be easily approached for every age and generation as well. For instance, in 2015, the Ice Bucket Challenge completed by numerous celebrities on the Internet made a huge conversation between citizens. They discussed who the next one performing this challenge was and followed their idols taking videos while doing it. As a result, the awareness of ALS disease was raised considerably, thanks to this campaign and famous people who participated in.
On the other hand, celebrities with big scandals, especially ones that go against ethical principles such as prostitution or sexual harassment, would cushion the credibility of the aid organizations. Furthermore, the attendance of influenced individuals raises the distraction from the real issues. Some argue that celebrity involvement in charitable programs might shift the attention from actual problems, that can undervalue the significance of those. Therefore, I believe that organizers should consider judiciously backgrounds of influencers they tend to reach out and company with in future programs.
In conclusion, well-known personalities play positive roles in public awareness enhancement; however, organizations need to have thoughtful consideration before having further cooperations with them.