The Scientology Celebrity
Religious organizations are not only practicing PR and Marketing; they are adopting it with all its trends. The most effective trend to hit the spiritual world is that of celebrity endorsements. After conquering and exhausting the red carpet, celebrities are now turning to religion to add their glamour.
The church of scientology has even established a ‘celebrity centre’ within Hollywood to cater to the scientology needs of it’s celebrities. The founder, L.Ron Hubbard says “The world is carried on the backs of a desperate few.” Unfortunately, it is these desperate few who are often the most neglected. It is for this reason that L. Ron Hubbard saw to the formation of a special Church of Scientology which would cater to these individuals — the artists, politicians, leaders of industry, sports figures and anyone with the power and vision to create a better world’
Illustrious patrons to this church include Kelly Preston, the Presley Family, and Kirstie Alley, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise and his family. In fact Tom Cruise has heavily endorsed the faith by having a widely publicized Scientology wedding ceremony, and speaking about it constantly in the media so much so that The Sun newspaper nicknamed him ‘The Christ of Scientology’. Celebrity mania within this religion increased to such a level that it triggered an investigation by FAC
Tnet, who declare that all these celebrities are not simply propagating their faith; however they are compensated heavily for their endorsement. FACTnet made further claims that Scientology's celebrities are compensated richly for endorsements with:
• Free Scientology services costing up to $1,000 dollars per hour. John Travolta alone has had in excess of $100,000 of free services in compensation.
• Commissions of up to 10% for bringing people into Scientology (who subsequently pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for Scientology's services).
• One or more Scientology staff being sent to travel full time with celebrities as "support," at Scientology's expense.
• Free luxury accommodations and carte Blanc use of the finest Scientology facilities and properties. E.g. During their visit, Cruise and Kidman are provided the additional luxuries of a specially prepared suite, maids, and two four-star chefs, all at scientology's expense as a quid pro quo exchange for Cruise's endorsements of Scientology. (Source: http://www.factnet.org)
While some may view this as an unethical use of Religion and god, it cannot be denied that it is very effective marketing. Using celebrities is a tried and tested formula which is known to have worked for brand image, corporate social responsibility, crisis management and advertising, so why now religious promotion?
The church of scientology has even established a ‘celebrity centre’ within Hollywood to cater to the scientology needs of it’s celebrities. The founder, L.Ron Hubbard says “The world is carried on the backs of a desperate few.” Unfortunately, it is these desperate few who are often the most neglected. It is for this reason that L. Ron Hubbard saw to the formation of a special Church of Scientology which would cater to these individuals — the artists, politicians, leaders of industry, sports figures and anyone with the power and vision to create a better world’
Illustrious patrons to this church include Kelly Preston, the Presley Family, and Kirstie Alley, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise and his family. In fact Tom Cruise has heavily endorsed the faith by having a widely publicized Scientology wedding ceremony, and speaking about it constantly in the media so much so that The Sun newspaper nicknamed him ‘The Christ of Scientology’. Celebrity mania within this religion increased to such a level that it triggered an investigation by FAC
Tnet, who declare that all these celebrities are not simply propagating their faith; however they are compensated heavily for their endorsement. FACTnet made further claims that Scientology's celebrities are compensated richly for endorsements with:• Free Scientology services costing up to $1,000 dollars per hour. John Travolta alone has had in excess of $100,000 of free services in compensation.
• Commissions of up to 10% for bringing people into Scientology (who subsequently pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for Scientology's services).
• One or more Scientology staff being sent to travel full time with celebrities as "support," at Scientology's expense.
• Free luxury accommodations and carte Blanc use of the finest Scientology facilities and properties. E.g. During their visit, Cruise and Kidman are provided the additional luxuries of a specially prepared suite, maids, and two four-star chefs, all at scientology's expense as a quid pro quo exchange for Cruise's endorsements of Scientology. (Source: http://www.factnet.org)
While some may view this as an unethical use of Religion and god, it cannot be denied that it is very effective marketing. Using celebrities is a tried and tested formula which is known to have worked for brand image, corporate social responsibility, crisis management and advertising, so why now religious promotion?
7 comments:
Hey Priyanka!
When we hear about Scientology, we always think about celebrities such as Travolta or Cruise. The Church has been using these celebrities as real endorsers of its 'brand' and it actually works... Isn't it a great opportunity to have Tom Cruise praising the benefits of this religion? In fact, now it has even become fashionable to be part of it among Hollywood stars, and Tom Cruise has been conducting a huge PR campaign for many years now.
In France, Scientology is highly criticised as it is considered a sect, and talking about it is like talking about evil...The fact that they are doing this celebrity PR campaign makes it even less popular. But it seems to be effective in other parts of the world. I'm just in the opinion that religion should not use celebrities as endorsers because religion is not a trend but something in which people really believe in.
Hey Priyanka!
I agree with Audrey in that religion is now becoming like a fashion trend among celebrities. Just look at Victoria Beckham, who is pictured with red Kabbalah string around her wrist one day, then reading a book about Scientology a couple of weeks later! Talking about Kabbalah, how much free publicity have they received as a result of having Madonna as their brand ambassador?! Every time she is pictured on a holistic trip to Israel or drinking the holy Kabbalah mineral water, she gets coverage with lots of pictures on the basis of this alone! I'm sure this must be extremely beneficial for the religion.
p.s. I've actually done that free Scientology stress test on Tottenham court road a couple of years ago, when i was living around there :) And (shame on me) i have to admit that i probably would never have tried it if i wasn't constantly reading about Scientology in celeb mags. I liked the idea of finding out my stress level, but i just ended up being disappointed, because they were trying too hard to sell me a religious book and didn't really tell me much about how stressed i am!
Hey Priyanka!
I also agree with Audrey. Because actually as I remember even the first time I heard about it was when Tom Cruise conformed to this new religion. At that time I was shocked because to me this was something very new and strange. But at the moment nothing surprises me anymore, and lately I have been has hearing about it more and more, as Alena said it has become a trend among celebrities. Basically, this new religion is mainly for the rich and famous, people who have the money to just spend and waste on anything that is nonsense.
Hey Priyanka!
I also agree with Audrey. Because actually as I remember even the first time I heard about it was when Tom Cruise conformed to this new religion. At that time I was shocked because to me this was something very new and strange. But at the moment nothing surprises me anymore, and lately I have been has hearing about it more and more, as Alena said it has become a trend among celebrities. Basically, this new religion is mainly for the rich and famous, its for people who can spend and waste money on anything even if its nonsense.
I completely agree with what Audrey has to say. When a celebrity states he or she follows a particular religion it instantly becomes a fan following. No longer is religion that sacred thing you believe in but a fad that changes according to what is the latest one followed by celebrities. Celebrities have the power to sell and more often the not great brand embassadors for promoting a product and today the same way the sales of a commodity are effected when a particular celebrity endorses it, beliefs in religion are being altered as well. Nowadays celebrities and public relations are being used to in order to generate awareness of a religion, be it Tom Cruise for Scientology or Madonna being a devotee of the Kabbalah Center.
I dont see a problem in this...if done in the right spirit and with complete respect...there is no harm in spreading the virtues of religions with the help of 'stars', all sorts of organisations take advantage of their celebrity status so why not religious orgnaisations ....and that too for a good cause.
For me, it can be a slippery slope to use celebrities for a religion. Cruise is the best example of a ticking time bomb - to me. He seemed normal for so many years, but then he started jumping up and down on couches, doing press releases about his engagement, buying a sonogram for his wife Katie, hiding his new kid from even close friends...
When I read that Tom actually expected Katie to be silent during the birth of their child because that is what scientology says that the child should be brought into the world calmly, it made me think the religion was either weird in its values or being seriously warped and manipulated by a short little make with more money than brains...
Celebrities and religion are like religion and politics. It might go well, but don't count on it. It's a topic that hits close to the heart, so it must be played perfectly -- I wouldn't put that much trust in the people that I see in Hollywood.
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