Pop superstar Taylor Swift supported Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate on Instagram on Tuesday.
Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Images
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Pedro Ugarte/AFP via Getty Images
On Tuesday night, Taylor Swift gave a much-awaited confirmation – she supports Vice President Harris for president. “She fights for the rights and causes that I think need a fighter to represent them,” Swift said. wrote on Instagram“I consider her to be a calm and gifted leader and I am convinced that we can achieve much more in this country if we are guided by calm rather than chaos.”
Last month, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reposted an AI-generated image of the pop star in an Uncle Sam outfit, accepting her apparent support of his campaign. The post appeared on the politician’s Truth social network. (It has since been disputed he knows something about the pictures.)
However, Swift wrote that this incident revived her fears about artificial intelligence and spurred her to share her “actual plans for this election as a voter.” When Trump posted the AI image, we looked at the history of celebrity endorsements and their impact. You can read the story here:
Why celebrity endorsement is important
Celebrity endorsements play just as much a role in politics as they do in consumer products.
“Celebrities generate more engagement, more attention, and more conversation,” says Ashley Spillane, author of a new Harvard Kennedy School study on celebrity involvement in politics, with a focus on civic participation. “And no matter what party or candidate it is, there is a real desire to be associated with the celebrities who can do that.”
Spillane said her research showed that you don’t have to be as big a star as Swift to influence voters.
“Some of the other people with smaller bases have had just as big an impact because they also have incredibly engaged support bases,” she said.
There is a long tradition of big names endorsing candidates for the White House, dating back to 1920, when movie stars Mary Pickford and Al Jolson endorsed Warren G. Harding.
Frank Sinatra declared his support for future President Ronald Reagan at a fundraiser in Boston in 1979.
“Why do I support Governor Reagan?” Sinatra asked. “Because I believe he is the right man to be President of the United States. Because things are so bad right now that we need someone to fix them.”
Oprah Winfrey gave her reasons for supporting Barack Obama at The The Larry King Show in 2007. “What he stands for, what he has proven he can stand for, what he has shown, was worth putting myself out there for,” Winfrey said.
A Study 2008 from Northwestern University examined the impact of Winfrey’s support for Obama. She showed that the media star was responsible for about one million additional votes for the 44th president.
Celebrity advertising can be tricky
However, other studies tell a different story.
For example Report 2010 from North Carolina State University found that the endorsement of celebrities such as George Clooney and Angelina Jolie did not help political candidates.
And recruiting famous people to cheerlead your political campaign is not a foolproof solution.
“It could backfire,” said Michael Platt, professor of neuroscience, psychology and marketing at the Wharton School of Business and author of a Study 2023 for celebrity endorsements. “Maybe it’s a celebrity you don’t like or who doesn’t agree with you politically.”
There is also the potential problem that the celebrity to famous. Platt calls this the “vampire effect.”
“You’re sucking up all of our attention, right?” he said. “That means there’s less attention and less focus on the candidate you might support.”
The rise of fake AI advertising by celebrities
The rise of social media and deepfakes created by artificial intelligence, such as Swift’s false appearance of supporting Trump, are also a problem.
“We’ve had doctored celebrity photos since the advent of photography, but the rampant use of AI and its ubiquity are new,” says Douglas Mirell, an entertainment lawyer at the Los Angeles-based Greenberg Glusker firm who works to curb the unauthorized use of AI. “AI is so pervasive and potentially manipulable that people can no longer distinguish what is true from what is not. So AI actually poses a much more serious threat to the fundamental touchstone of democracy: truth-telling.”
Mirell said the impact of the AI-generated images on election results remains to be seen.
“When we talk about people like Taylor Swift or Beyoncé, their endorsements could potentially be very important,” he said. “And that’s why I think everyone should really think about this issue.”
