Most of us know that reality TV is often heavily scripted and edited to tell an intentionally melodramatic story. Usually the on-screen participants have little to no control over how they are portrayed. The Kardashians have always been different. The family has frequently been criticized for having little talent and only being famous for being famous–the ultimate oxymoron. Yet over the past decade, the individual sisters from this “untalented” family have taken their fame and turned it into multiple lucrative billion-dollar companies.
An article from this month’s Rolling Stone offered a more non-obvious assessment of how the Kardashians are currently (and perhaps have always) leveraged their fame to play a long game few have appreciated:
“The ability to pivot the brand into different spaces and eras is the main reason why we shouldn’t count the Kardashians out just yet. Their genius — and Kim’s in particular — is that they understand the importance of change … they have an awareness of where they need to pivot next and when. They are in the process of trying to transfer their reality star fame into other genres. They are less interesting but by a very purposeful design.”
Now as Season Six of the Kardashians gets set to air next month – the “reality” presented in the show is likely to be shamelessly filled with plugs for products and operate very much like an infomercial to sell merch. In other words, they have built their fame by doing what they needed to do … and now they’re cashing in. You may not be a fan of their journey, but it’s hard to dismiss these sisters as lacking talent.
