Ellen's Selfie at the Oscars

            Who hasn’t heard about the selfie Ellen took at the Oscars with her Samsung phone?  Do you think it was all about promoting Samsung’s brand and that she possibly got paid to take that picture?  Well regardless of the truth, Samsung has agreed to pay 3 million dollars to the charity of Ellen’s choice. 

Apparently Samsung is one of the sponsors of the Oscars.  The fact that Ellen used a Samsung phone is definitely going to spark some sort of controversy, somewhere.  It’s inevitable.  In my opinion it’s just another topic for someone to write an article about.  Even if Ellen was asked by Samsung to take a photo with their device, why is it a problem?  Do people really believe that Samsung paid 3 million to charity and cut Ellen a check on the side?  I doubt it.  Even if that was the case, would people really be against it? Considering 3 million went to charity because of it.

Ellen’s selfie was retweeted over 3 million times, hence the reason for Samsung’s donation.  They decided to match tweet for dollar.  I think it’s great that we can use a highly publicized event and a leading telecommunications company to raise money for charity.  I say let’s make the selfie a tradition at the Oscars and see how much money we can raise for charities over the next decade. 

 

Check out this article by Digital Trends http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-will-donate-3-million-charity-ellens-selfie-reached-3-million-retweets/#!zcom7 Tell me what you think. Was this a selfish advertising ploy or a selfless act that ended up benefitting a greater good?                           

References:

Pelegrin, W. (2014, March 4). Samsung will donate $3 million to charity after Ellen’s selfie reached 3 million retweets [updated]. Retrieved from Digital Trends: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-will-donate-3-million-charity-ellens-selfie-reached-3-million-retweets/#!zcom7