Facebook’s $50M Endorsement Splurge For ‘Gordon Ramsay’ And Others

It seems Facebook is using every weapon in its disposal in order to maintain its strong position at the head of the social media industry. Aside from trying to get users to integrate their “Messenger” app with the SMS features of Android smartphones by any means necessary, the company is also reportedly splurging as much as $50 million for celebrities to make an appearance involving “Facebook Live.” According to the report by the Wall Street Journal, the social network giant has signed a contract with over 140 video creators to push the popularity of the livestreaming tool.

With so many social media sites also jumping on the livestreaming bandwagon, Facebook has absolutely no intention of being usurped as the undisputed king in its court. At over 1.65 billion global users a month, there’s no denying that the company created by Mark Zuckerberg is the biggest social network site in the world. However, judging by how it is tapping known faces like “Gordon Ramsay,” “Kevin Hart,” and “Russell Wilson,” the company is not secure in its own success.

Aside from the celebrities, Facebook is also using huge media outlets such as CNN and The New York Times to boost its livestream asset’s exposure. The payment that these video makers will get will depend on the number of videos that they make and the number of views that they will get, so it’s pretty much what YouTube stars are already getting. More than that, this makes BuzzFeed’s $3.05 million fee understandable, since the site is known as an explosive force when it comes to creating viral content.

Digital Trend also noticed how the variety of content makers that Facebook brought into the fold to promote its livestreaming service is a familiar model that YouTube is already offering. Considering how ambitious the project is for the social network, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they are trying to topple the video streaming juggernaut along with its social media rivals.