Are Celebrities Responsible For the Products They Endorse?

United States
March 21, 2009 7:33pm CST
Due to the issues in China over food safety, new laws are rapidly being passed. Including one which holds the celebrities who endorses the products liable for safety failures. What this means is that celebrities who have endorsed a product that is found faulty are open to a variety of lawsuits. Including personal ones. Celebrity endorsement in China is a very big deal - even bigger than in the US. There are already laws in place which regulate what products may or may not be endorsed my celebrities - products such as diet pills, nutritional supplements and medications cannot be endorsed by celebrities, for example. This newest law hits closest to home, however, and a lot of people are protesting it. The main point of protest being: if the celebrities are being held accountable, why aren't the networks that air the endorsements? Or the magazines who approve and print them? Which is a good point, and one nobody has answered yet. But because of the popularity of celebrities, the argument is that they lead people to buy products they wouldn't on their own. Is this true? Should celebrities be personally liable for the products they endorse? It isn't as though they have any education that would let them determine if there could be a problem down the line. Or is it really up to them to fully research these products, and take personal responsibility for each and every person who buys the product? Just how much influence do celebrities really have?
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