Judging a Book by Its Cover

Do not judge a book by its cover.  We’ve all heard this cliché statement, yet we continue to do so. In a literal sense, I always judge a book by its cover.  I have also never been proven wrong by a book that I chose based entirely on the cover art and the short synopsis given on the back or inside leaf.  Because of this, I suppose that is why I sometimes tend to stereotype people, and it’s not always in a good light. Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s horrible. I always welcome being proven wrong, especially if I have misjudged someone in a discreditable fashion.  But if I don’t care to get to know someone based on the impressions they have given me, how am ever to know what they are really like?

I think this same principle can be seen in advertising. In between your favorite television show, there are commercials that many of us tend to ignore. If we happen to actually watch them, it mostly goes in one ear and out the other. That is until someone familiar shows up on the screen.  That someone is of course a celebrity.  Someone famous brought in to be an endorser is a good way to catch most peoples’ eyes.  That brand name whatever has been trying to get your attention with sad looking animals or happy-go-lucky families having the time of their lives in Disney World, but you have been strong and avoided being persuaded by those ads.  But now, someone famous, someone who we all feel has figured how to live the good life, is in that ad so now it has legitimacy.

Don’t believe me? Okay, consider your answers to these questions. How many of you have ever been asked by a cashier in a checkout line to donate a dollar or two to some charitable foundation along with your purchase for the day? How many times? And how many times have you just said, “No thanks, not today,” as if you would at some other, maybe more convenient, time? Just curious, how many of you have ever thought it could be a scam?

Then you see commercials for some of these very same organizations that happen to have celebrity endorsers in the ads. Somehow, the advertisement has creditability now that it has been “branded” with a famous face.

Take, for instance, St. Jude’s hospital that has the following televised commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60NEqP_8iP0&safe=active. I think there are two dominant ways that you can see this ad.

1)      It’s about children with leukemia that need your help in funding the research and there are celebrities, such as, Jennifer Aniston, Robin Williams, and Antonio Banderas, that care to help. Will you?

2)      Look! Celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Robin Williams, and Antonio Banderas are donating to fund research for children at St. Jude’s hospital. You should too!          

The difference between these two views is what is capturing your attention. Is it the hope you can provide children or is it that one of your favorite stars is affiliated? Unfortunately, for many of us, it’s the latter.

                I think one explanation could be that we have set our own sights on achieving fame because someone somewhere along the way made us believe that we must. These celebrities have. They became what most of us are out to become – one of them. It ends up boiling down to monkey see, monkey do. Because celebrities have reached the top of the totem pole, they now guide us there as we buy what they buy and do what they do. And, if someone sees us giving to St. Jude’s, knowing that Jennifer Aniston does, well, we’ve just gotten that much closer to the goal. (That is if your goal is to achieve fame in our world.)

                But Matthew 6:3 says, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” We are not to act under the pretense that what we do or buy will be seen by others and a connection will be made between us and a celebrity. We should do what brings glory to the kingdom of God.