J. Lo's Brand Has Been Damaged for Years
Her struggling album and ticket sales were preceded by years of awkward moves.
In today’s issue:
Jennifer Lopez’s tour is struggling to sell tickets after a rough album launch. It’s a stark change from just 2019, when she was heralded as someone on whom the fashion industry was “betting big.”
How Lopez has been fumbling Brand J. Lo since 2021.
Loose Threads, including Zendaya for Vogue, Anna Wintour’s dogs, and more.
Six months ago, someone posted a photo to Reddit’s Sephora group captioned, “JLO beauty ~literally~ collecting dust 😂.” Now, apparently the same can be said of tickets to her tour, which has already canceled seven dates and, as of last week, been rebranded a career retrospective. The concert was previously positioned as a showcase of her new album This Is Me… Now, which debuted at 38 on the Billboard 200 chart and was released along with two films, This is Me… Now: A Love Story plus a documentary on the making of it.
This white water of J. Lo content should have been the pinnacle of capitalizing on audience goodwill after she got back together with Ben Affleck, which has been an enjoyable media spectacle — something fans rooted for. Yet the music and movies left many in a state of confusion and disinterest, culminating now in internet ire that’s drawn comparisons to the ugly “Hathahate” that plagued Anne Hathaway in the 2010s. Many have accused Lopez of indulging in “creative narcissism,” though one wonders why these same allegations haven’t been levied at Justin Timberlake, Drake, or other cringe male artists. But other critiques may be more damaging, like the TikToker (whose account appears to have been removed), who claimed to have gone to high school with Lopez and said she was “lying” about elements of her upbringing and invoking the Bronx to “look human.”
The shift in sentiment around Lopez hasn’t shot forth suddenly from the black beyond, like a laser in the Waiting for Tonight video. It has been building since the pandemic. Lopez had been riding high as an actress and spokesmodel before a few ill-advised moves caused her brand to take a hit. Now, Lopez is a case study of a celebrity that failed to catch the shifts of this decade.
In 2019, Lopez was at a career peak. She was credited with generating $9.4 million in media impressions after appearing in the spring 2020 Versace runway show wearing the same “jungle” dress she famously wore to the Grammys in 2000. It made for one of those afternoons on social media where all you saw was the same moment over and over again — J. Lo on that runway — as shared by breathless witnesses.
Lopez walked in the show because she was Versace’s face that season. She had also been fronting Coach and would soon be announced as the face of Guess. At this time, many agreed that she should have been nominated for an Oscar for her appearance in the 2019 movie Hustlers, which cast a halo effect on everything she did. Did you see the movie? It was great. She was great. That pole dance she did? Great. She’s doing Coach now? Interesting! But great.
She was so ubiquitous that Business of Fashion ran the story, “Why the Fashion Industry Is Betting Big on Jennifer Lopez.” The piece noted how unusual it was for one star to work as a face for so many brands:
Lopez offers a wholesome-yet-cool persona, gravitas along with reach. “It’s great for her brand, Brand J.Lo, in terms of building brand equity,” said [Simon Woolford, founder and company director of creative agency Sum Design]. That level of influence gives her clout for lucrative collaborations.
She may have gotten the lucrative collaborations — for beauty and alcohol brands — but she flubbed the rollouts of both.
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