Celebrity birth or press event?

by nicole ~ November 25, 2008

The lines are starting to blur.  While I hate to question the motives of any expectant parents, with a Google News search for Bronx Mowgli returning more than 1,200 articles, one has to wonder.

The recent birth of Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz son has caused quite a stir online, resulting in many opinionated comments regarding their first child’s name.  I give parents credit for being creative, since I’m stuck with one of the more popular girls names of the 80s, but do wonder about the celebrity baby naming trend.  I don’t know why celebrities often choose to give their children unusual names, but I think it’s safe to say that a celeb baby born today with a more traditional name might not receive as many press hits.

Of course, celeb baby naming is only the half of it.  Instead of just shopping for cribs and diapers, some celebs are shopping around for the best deal on their baby photos as well. We’ve been seeing this for a while now.  According to this ABC news article Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reportedly made $14 million for the August 2008 People Magazine cover featuring their twins Knox and Vivienne.

The article says:

“It was the magazine’s best-selling cover in seven years, according to The New York Times. The pair also scored a hefty $4.1 million for pictures of their firstborn, Shiloh, who made her debut on People’s June 19, 2006, cover, and an estimated $2 million for the first pictures of adopted son Pax Thien.”

While some might argue in favor of this sale as the proceeds went to charity, I think the perspective from Bruce Weinstein, a syndicated ethics columnist featured in the ABC article, is interesting:

“Weinstein isn’t swayed by the rationale offered by celebrities, that it’s a way for them to control the inevitable media maelstrom. ‘If you look at what happened with Britney Spears or Angelina Jolie, [selling the photos] didn’t quell the feeding frenzy. Whether People or OK! gets first dibs, people still want to take photos of the child.’

And he isn’t impressed by the fact that some stars have contributed some or all of the baby bonanza to charity, such as Jolie and Pitt, who gave $2 million of a reported $4 million windfall to Global Action for Children and Doctors Without Borders.

Weinstein cited a quote from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans - ‘We are not to do evil that good may come from it’ — to explain his argument.

‘If you’re already starting from extreme wealth, that argument doesn’t hold much water,’ he said. ‘They’re already in a position to give money to charity.’”

Not only are the celebrities getting top dollar and visibility, but perhaps a positive slant as well.  Just last week I received an e-mail from one of my clients who joked after seeing this New York Times article on Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, that he’d be happy to sell photos of his children in return for favorable coverage.

As long as the public is curious, celebrities will continue to remain in the limelight and photos of celebrity babies will continue to rake in millions for parents who chose to sell them.  As we go into this Thanksgiving weekend and are bombarded with news coverage speculating how retailers will fare this holiday shopping season, I wonder how outsiders look in upon these photo deals being made during supposed tough economic times.

Nicole Amato is an Account Executive at Mediashop PR and a graduate of Northeastern University with a BA in Journalism.