Celebrities promoting their latest movie, television shows, album, fashion line, book, or other product, have always generated more media in the form of interviews and appearances. However, these days a celebrity doesn't just show up on a few talk shows and sit for radio and print interviews. In the new media era, the press tour can get pretty intense, and we've seen a big shift toward videos and shorts that are targeting social media audiences.
Promotional stunts have been around for a long time, so there's nothing new about most of the video skits and games and silly stunts that we see celebrities like Awkwafina or Jake Gyllenhaal taking part in when their new movie drops. These are often video versions of old features that we used to see in print magazines and other publications. If you've spent any time on Youtube in the celebrity sphere, you'll have seen the videos of celebrities answering the "most searched questions" about them online, or getting quizzed on past movie roles. Many of these are from familiar lifestyle magazines turned content creators like GQ, ELLE, and Harper's Bazaar. So naturally, their interviews will have the celebs walk us through their fashion, diet, makeup and skincare, and home decor choices.
Other outlets have gotten more creative. Esquire conducts interviews while asking you to mix a drink. Buzzfeed will cover you in puppies or kittens if you're lucky, and make you read thirst tweets if you're not. Vanity Fair will subject you to a lie detector test or make you rewatch your past work. LadBible will make you sample British snacks and rate them. Complex will take you shopping for sneakers. Then there's the Vogue mukbang videos. This post came about because I couldn't stop thinking about a video that the Youtube algorithm kept recommending to me, titled "Florence Pugh Eats 11 English Dishes." At the time of writing, the video is four years old and has a whopping 22 million views. I haven't looked too far into mukbang videos, which I guess are part of the ASMR subculture, but they give me an uneasy feeling. Watching other people eat to excess strikes me as disturbing. Of course Florence Pugh didn't actually eat full servings of all the food that we see in the video, but linking her to content that is known for causing eating disorders and massive waste can't be a good thing.
And that brings us, inevitably, to "Hot Ones." Ten years ago I never would have guessed that a regular stop on the American celebrity press tour would be an extreme eating challenge. Since 2015, celebrity interviews have been conducted while consuming chicken wings with increasingly spicy sauces - all available for purchase of course - ensuring at least some kind of honest response from the interviewee. Sweating profusely is a common reaction, and it only gets worse from there. However, the format of "Hot Ones" absolutely works in attracting more attention. Matt Damon's oft cited interview where he bemoans the loss of mid-budget films was a "Hot Ones" interview where steam was practically coming out of his ears. This kind of stunt feels crass at first, but is this fundamentally any different than the racetrack challenge on "Top Gear," or taking part in "Celebrity Fear Factor," or agreeing to be on CBS's yearly "Circus of the Stars" specials, where celebrities literally performed circus tricks? Actually, considering that Linda Evans was bitten by a 200 lb jaguar while training for "Circus of the Stars," the hot wings are probably safer.
There are some trends that I've appreciated seeing in online content. There's more emphasis on celebrities interacting with each other, minimizing the roles of interviewers. Awards season means a new round of "Actors on Actors" interviews from Variety, and The Hollywood Reporter Roundtables, which are designed to foster face to face celebrity conversations. Many interview videos have celebrities appear in pairs or groups so they can quiz each other or be pitted against each other in friendly competitions. Podcast appearances are becoming more common, which allow for less structured, more casual interviews. The most popular ones tend to be hosted by other celebrities, like "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" and "Smartless."
There are plenty of the old fashioned type of celebrity interview in circulation too, of course. Not everyone is comfortable with new media stunts, and you're not going to see Dame Judi Dench making ASMR or shopping for sneakers. The late night and morning chat shows upload their interviews on Youtube for extra views like everybody else, and red carpet coverage remains plentiful. And it's been nice to discover that some of those lifestyle and fashion magazines are still hanging around in some form, still foisting puzzling photoshoots on us.
And the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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