From the perspective of some people, aid agencies can take advantage of celebrities’ fame to raise public awareness towards certain matters of importance. Others, however, hold the view that such method may only bring counterproductive results. Personally, I find this can have negative consequences.
On the one hand, some people support the idea of using famed individuals’ assistance in aid Campaign. Because in many parts of the world, some film stars are even more well-known to the locals than the organisation itself owing to their appearance in familiar cinematic products so a wider range of population can be reached if an organisation’s campaign is represented by a popular star. For instance, Priyanka Chopra was appointed global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Child Rights in 2010 and 2016. She promotes social causes such as environment, health and education, and women’s rights and undoubtedly draw a great deal of attention from her admirers.
On the other hand, some other people are against inviting celebrities for assistance and I agree. Because when relying on the fame of some people to attract more public attention, an aid programme can also be affected by their scandals. Mass public disapproval may arise from a representative receiving a speeding ticket or getting caught using illegal drugs, undervaluing the significance of the aid programme. Moreover without the evidence of real actions taken to mitigate a problem such as participating in a voluntary team to help the people in need, famous people may fail to draw the attention of people to the situation.
In conclusion, while some people have reasons to believe in the success of celebrities in getting people to pay attention, I tend to think that such approach might not prove to be effective for aid organisations as expected.
OR
There has been much debate regarding the role of famous people in raising public awareness of major issues. While celebrities can attract people’s attention to the problems, I would argue that they are likely to make the problems become less crucial.
On the one hand, some people argue well-known people can assist international aid organisations in raising people’s awareness of social issues. because celebrities can communicate information about big problems to a large audience around the world. For example, by taking part in the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014, various celebrities such as Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg have helped the ALS Organisation to let millions of people know about a disease called ALS. Moreover, since people tend to listen to the ones they admire, famous people are much more likely to be able to ask their fans to take appropriate actions. For instance, a well-known football player can ask people to donate money to help homeless individuals.
On the other hand, some others including me believe famous people might make the problems become less important. Because individuals tend to only pay attention to what celebrities do and say rather than what messages they want to convey. In the aforementioned example about the Ice Bucket Challenge, many people watched the videos of celebrities taking up the challenge without actually learning anything about the ALS disease. This makes little contribution to solve the problem compared to the large number of famous people involved. Furthermore, in order to attract viewers, well-known people usually try to deliver their messages in a funny and entertaining way, which might lead to the problems becoming less serious.
In conclusion, while celebrities can contribute to tackling social problems, I believe they are more likely to make these problems seem less important.
Important Vocabulary
• Counterproductive (adj): having an effect that is opposite to the one intended or wanted
Example: Improved traffic infrastructures such as broadened roads can be counterproductive as they encourage people to drive faster.
• Role model (noun phrase): a person who is admired and whose behaviour is copied
Example: Many sports stars are the role models for thousands of young people.
• Prominent (adj): very well-known and important
Example: Many prominient inventors in history had their ability imprecisely evaluated such as Thomas Edison and Eistein.
• To undervalue (v): to consider something less important or valuable than they really are
Example: It is very likely for employees who feel undervalued to leave the company and seek the appreciation of their worth somewhere else.
• Foreseeable (adj): can be known or guessed before it happens
Example: The deterioration of humans’ health is foreseeable if the destruction of the environment persists at the current rate.
• convey = deliver: to make ideas, feelings, etc. known to sb
Example: Colours like red convey a sense of energy and strength.
• Significance (n): importance
Example: The discovery of the new drug is of great significance to people suffering from heat disease.