Lady Gaga jumps into a lake: Charitable giving or celeb self-promotion?
Talk about jumping into a good cause.
On Sunday, Lady Gaga took a plunge into freezing Lake Michigan to raise funds for Special Olympics Chicago, a nonprofit that promotes physical and mental health for children and adults with disabilities.
The 鈥淧oker Face鈥� singer鈥檚 surprise appearance 鈥� and the participation of her fianc茅, 鈥淐hicago Fire鈥� star Taylor Kinney; actor Vince Vaughn; and 4,500 other volunteers 鈥� helped raise more than $1 million, the most in the charity鈥檚 history, .
鈥淚t was awesome,鈥� Gaga, soaked to the skin, told reporters after the event.
The artist鈥檚 apparent willingness to jump into the frigid water in the name of a good cause quickly went viral, drawing praise from fans online.
But the appearance of yet another celebrity at a charity event also raises a more controversial, less cozy question: When does charitable giving cross the line into self-promotion?
Or, as author and journalist Andrew Smith put it in : 鈥淲ho gains the most from this exchange?鈥� 聽
In the opinion of York University professor Ilan Kapoor, the true benefactors are rarely the people for whom charitable events are held.
鈥淲hat matters most to celebrity charity is the glitz and glam,鈥� Mr. Kapoor . 聽
鈥淸I]t makes celebrities鈥� look compassionate and caring, while diverting attention away from such uncomfortable issues as the complicity of our own economic and political 茅lites (of which celebrities are now part) in the creation of the very poverty that such charity is intended to address,鈥� he added.
In his book, 鈥�,鈥� Kapoor further argued that celebrity involvement in charitable causes is just a way for famous people to gain media exposure, increase their public 鈥渓ikeability,鈥� and build their brand 鈥� all of which eventually lead to greater financial profit for that celebrity.
It also runs the risk of oversimplifying 鈥� or at least glossing over 鈥� a complex issue in the name of a viral campaign.
Denis Jackson, a doctor who spent years fighting HIV and AIDS in Africa,聽聽that media soundbites such as "HIV drugs for all" can be counterproductive to the goal of promoting better understanding and true support for his cause.聽
鈥淎nti-retroviral treatment in Africa is a very complex issue," Mr. Jackson said. "If you just took a load of drugs out there tomorrow, they would be of very little use.鈥�
Another case in point: Last year鈥檚 wildly popular, social-media 鈥�.鈥� Everyone from pop superstar Justin Bieber to Facebook billionaire Mark Zuckerberg posted videos of themselves getting doused in ice water in the name of spreading awareness about the neurodegenerative illness ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig鈥檚 Disease.
Mark Hogan, :
Ice-bucketing is the equivalent of clicking 鈥渓ike鈥� on a Facebook cause or adding a 鈥淭wibbon鈥� to your Twitter avatar鈥� Or Stop Kony, Bring Back Our Girls, Movember, No Make-up Selfies or the other countless charidee fads that burn brightly then disappear, while the problem they purported to solve remains.
Which isn鈥檛 to say that celebrities such as Lady Gaga shouldn鈥檛 participate in charitable work, according to some experts.
Jackson credited the 鈥渄iscreet but tireless鈥� work of celebrities such as Elton John and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, in raising awareness for AIDS and HIV 鈥渁t a time when most of the public was terrified of them.鈥�
Mark Wheeler, a professor of political communications at London Metropolitan University, argued that celebrities' involvement in charity work brings to public attention issues that otherwise no one would know or care about.
鈥淐elebrity activists can bridge the gap between Western audiences and faraway tragedies by using their fame to publicize these international events,鈥� . 鈥淭hey complement the work of the UN, non-state actors and other non-governmental organizations by using their charismatic authority to establish an equitable discourse within global civil society.鈥�
And there are plenty of celebrities who keep their good works relatively low-key. Meryl Streep鈥檚 Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts has donated millions to organizations such as Oxfam America, New York鈥檚 Meals on Wheels, and the National Women鈥檚 Museum, in 2012.
Matt Damon has also spent years working for one cause without all the bells and whistles. In 2011, Mr. Damon was featured in innovation magazine Fast Company for his efforts to help bring clean water to African villages via Water.org.
Damon and his co-founder, Gary White, spent time in Africa studying the problem, trying to develop a system that involves people in the affected communities, and focusing on practical ways to solve the problem.
"Awareness is as important to us as fundraising," Damon . "We want people to understand the issue in all its complexity."
