If Kim Kardashian didn’t teach the world that a well-posed selfie translates directly into money, then Ellen DeGeneres sure did. DeGeneres took the “selfie heard round the world” at last year’s Oscars–and it was worth, according to some estimates, about $1 billion to sponsor Samsung. Ellen captured the “spontaneous” moment and it became the most retweeted thing ever–seen by 37 million people, almost as many as saw the broadcast. (Note: Ellen was really just the art director on the shot–Bradley Cooper held the Samsung.)
So you’re going to see a LOT of selfies at the Emmys on Monday, as everyone tries to go viral. Variety reports that Emmy producers are giving special access to certain “Instagram Influencers” who will essentially be amateur photojournalists behind the scenes–all in the hope of catching the great viral whale. Seth Meyers, the genial Emmys host, will no doubt be adept at setting up shots featuring loads of beautiful TV stars, if they want him to. What he won’t be able to do is what DeGeneres did, which is snap Meryl Streep, Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Lupita Nyong’o. That could only happen–obviously–with a Samsung!
