What is a sellout?
Sellouts are the celebrities who exchanged their morals and messaging for money and wider praise.
The true sellouts, though, are not the nepo baby actors but the figureheads of counterculture movements.
It’s the punk musicians who sang about wealth inequality but then began to charge hundreds for tickets and changed their sound to be more palatable to those who opposed their strong stances.
Moreover, it is also the actors who criticized the commercialization of political movements but then became a talking head for major companies.
In 2003, the film “Lost in Translation” came out. It told the not uncommon story of a washed-up celebrity traveling to a foreign country to star in ads so he could make money without being labeled a sellout.
The idea of the public knowing that you, as a well-known celebrity, were broke or could not land a gig was so embarrassing that celebrities used to hide from their audiences.
Now, they plaster their faces proudly onto potato chips, soda, hair care and clothing advertisements.
Celebrity Brand Deals
Brand partnerships have become so common that some celebrities have become less of a person and more of a mascot.
Green Day claims they are a punk rock band, but does not maintain the values of rock or punk subcultures. They are selling tickets out of the price range of the working-class people that uphold the community, and partnering to make a coffee and slushie brand that profits off of the punk image.
In 2024, Green Day created the brand Punk Bunny, branching off of their already owned coffee brand, Oakland Coffee. Punk Bunny is most commonly sold at the chain corporation and convenience store, 7/11.
This brand may be presented as better than most corporation-owned coffee brands due to it being fair trade and organic; however, it is similar to green-washing companies that push the best buzz words that describe their product to the front to increase sales and hide the negative truths.
Green Day’s brand is a corporation that provides sales to at least one mega corporation, keeping the wealth within the hands of a select few while preaching the opposite.
The Wealth gap
Famous people were once just those who rose to fame from being uplifted from their communities. People who shared the same ways of life, beliefs, interests and fought against the same oppressions as them. Then the praise from their in-group wasn’t enough, so they made themselves more palatable to a wider audience, while increasing their wealth.
The wealth gap is the most divisive attribute of all individuals, symbolizing how not only did these small-town superstars believe they could rise above their common peers, but that they rose above humanity in their mascot transformation.
We’ve seen ads cover increasing areas in our lives, as well as an increase in length. Ad prevalence, hobbies becoming more purchasing-centered, friends bonding over paid and increasingly expensive experiences are all examples of why many cite America as being in or approaching “late-stage capitalism.”
Late-stage capitalism Debate
While capitalism has been a foundation of the American experience for hundreds of years. How it’s allowed an economic system to encapsulate its culture at an exponential rate in a short amount of time, when you observe how sellout celebrities are perceived today compared to a couple of decades ago.
A majority of people have an opinion on economic systems and the countries that use particular ones, while a vast amount are not fully confident or knowledgeable about the systems they critique.
Not too long ago, when a celebrity, especially one who represented an alternative culture or movement, obtained brand deals or starred in commercials, they were heavily criticized and labeled a “sellout.”
While America holds a capitalist economic structure on a technicality, it can also be considered a mixed economy, due to not all transactions, regulations and economic decisions being privatized. Additionally, it is highly unlikely that any country or governing land will be entirely capitalist or entirely use any economic system for that matter.
“Late-stage capitalism” can be used for many different definitions. Depending on the one being used, Western society has either long been in late capitalism or is approaching it.
Either way, celebrities no longer being criticized for selling out is evidence of wealth, purchasing and the forces central to a capitalist economy increasing in precedence.
People have simply begun to care less and even encourage performative or poser behavior (*cough* Super Bowl Ad Watch Parties *cough*).
This is likely due to the expanding normalization and extremity of ad and buy now culture.