The seventh meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People's Congress continued to deliberate on the draft of the Food Safety Law. The draft of the Food Safety Law, which has been reviewed for the fourth time, proposed that celebrities endorsing food that does not meet food safety standards and causing harm to consumers' legitimate rights and interests will bear joint liability.
I believe that before this draft of the Food Safety Law clearly stated that celebrities must bear joint liability for endorsing food, most of the food in the market relied heavily on the celebrity effect. This explicit legal provision may limit such endorsement behavior from both manufacturers and celebrities. However, is this really a blessing for consumers? As an ordinary consumer, I think there is a reasonable place for celebrities to endorse food.
I remember the first Chinese language test in my first year of high school, where the topic essay quoted an advertisement story of NBA star Charles Barkley. It was an innovative advertisement. The notorious "big mouth" Barkley seriously said: "Even if you wear these shoes, they cannot make you as rich as me, nor can they make you as crazy about grabbing rebounds as me. The most obvious point is that even if you wear these shoes, you still won't be as handsome as me. The only similarity is that the shoes you wear are the same as mine, and that's it."
"Just like mine, that's all," until today, I still think this is the most appropriate summary of the essence of "celebrity endorsements." Because we saw Zhao Wei (known as "Little Swallow") with a sweet appearance, we bought cookies with her face printed on them. Because we thought Xu Qing had fair skin, we were keen on drinking almond milk in winter. In short, who doesn't know that they absolutely won't become beautiful or have fair skin just by eating or drinking these things? Advertising is just to cater to your desires.
In this sense, the advertising value and effect of celebrities endorsing food and other products are no different.
Actress Chen Xiaoyi expressed when she heard this news that although she paid great attention to product quality issues in her previous endorsement activities, it was difficult to ensure that the product would not have problems in the long run. She believed that the draft of the Food Safety Law should issue more detailed regulations regarding celebrity endorsements. (China Broadcasting Network, February 26) Indeed, when we see the news, we might also have such doubts: Was the food not up to safety standards before or after the endorsement? If the food did not meet the standards before the celebrity endorsement, then the criticism of the endorsing star is justified; but if the food had problems after the endorsement, then holding the star responsible afterward seems overly harsh.
Clearly, past experiences, including the Sanlu milk powder incident, indicate that this legislation mainly targets the latter situation. Many celebrities, like Chen Xiaoyi, evaluate products before endorsing them, but let's not forget that they are not professionals either. After checking various permits, they may guarantee that the endorsed product was qualified at that time, but how could they control any future incidents?
Such considerations are not intended to excuse celebrities from responsibility. The public's questioning of endorsing celebrities triggered by the Sanlu milk powder incident has already told us that even without legal constraints, endorsing food has become a high-risk advertising activity for celebrities. Food becomes famous because of celebrities, and celebrities become more popular due to well-known brands. Since signing a contract, they have become a community of shared interests, and in a mature advertising market, this is sufficient to play a limiting role. Therefore, celebrities endorsing food aligns with the value and pursuit of advertising. However, to reduce the occurrence of food safety incidents and mitigate the negative economic and social effects brought by food safety issues, we need to make more efforts in building food safety supervision systems and increasing financial investment.
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