The authority of celebrities is unquestionable. They sell magazines, newspapers and they also encourage us to turn on and tune in on a daily basis. They affect the clothes people put on, the products people buy and the foods people consume, or don’t. Just what, then, is the point of the celebrity speaker within our undoubtedly celebrity obsessed society? Surely the countless more subtle endorsements, or rather the more conventional ones, for instance TV advertising campaigns and the like, are a good enough invasion into and influence on us without the famous turning celebrity speaker at all sorts of things from political rallies, to shop openings to charity dinners?

The celebrity speaker is more and more prevalent and potent. Whether or not it’s of their own accord or because of a generous hire fee, it is more popular than ever before to see some celeb or other at events. Prominent cases of celebs turning speaker are that of Bob Geldoff and his band of celebrity crusaders with a conscience, employing their fame and influence to raise awareness of the circumstances of the hungry.

More recently than that, celebrity speakers happen to have been observed playing more of a political part. There is Jamie Oliver and his one-man war on processed foods and even more recently there was the case of Arlene Phillips engaging in governmental politics as the dance tsar.

Whether we like it or not, then, the celebrity speaker is bigger today than ever before. No more do celebrities merely affect vogue and beauty; today’s celebrity speaker has a valid message. What use for the celebrity speaker? The young look up to celebrities and even the more adult people among us must admit to being a bit interested in what they have to say. Their fame is alluring and they are role models, whether we like it or not. Therefore if the celebrity speaker can drive forward a charity’s cause, send a clear message to enhance the nation’s health or perhaps stir up a bit of curiosity about politics, then certainly they have a purpose. And not just a purpose: a responsibility, to make use of their sway sensibly.