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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1. While the term ‘celebrity’ is somewhat problematic, given that Kardashian is, as Daniel Boorstin (Citation1961) might argue, ‘famous for being famous’, she is certainly extremely well known. Her notoriety has a distinctly endogenous value; that is, a fame created through gaining visibility or fame itself (Heinich Citation2011).
2. RED is a licensed brand that seeks to get large multinationals to donate portions of revenues to tackling AIDS/HIV in Africa. It was founded in 2008 by Bono and Bobby Shriver, and was acquired in 2012 by ONE.
3. George Clooney, for example, is a UN Messenger of Peace.
4. The Baharna are the indigenous population of Bahrain, who lived in Bahrain prior to the conquest of the ruling Al Khalifa family in the late 1700s.
5. ‘Glory From Bahrain’ [online video], 2015. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgceyhwvSH0&feature=youtu.be [Accessed 2 September 2016].
6. John Legend received approximately US$420,000 for his performance in Bahrain, while Joss Stone received around US$160,000. See Bahrain Tender Board, February 2015. Available from: http://www.tenderboard.gov.bh/Uploads/AwardedTenders/Feb%202015.pdf [Accessed 4 September 2016].
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Marc Owen Jones
Marc Owen Jones, Gulf Research Fellow, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter.