Roles and paydays for actresses are declining, but she was among the first to market with her own lifestyle extension, The Honest Co., as everyone (Blake Lively, Reese Witherspoon) takes a page from her playbook.
In an age when roles and paydays are fewer and farther between, Alba epitomizes the move into personal brand extension. Now the mother of two daughters, Honor, 6, and Haven, 3, with whom she seems game to appear in paparazzi shots, she has marketed herself as the ultimate mother: someone with looks and taste but down-to-earth instincts — happy to be seen as a "regular" mom during the day and a glamorous red-carpet presence at night. Unlike Gwyneth Paltrow, with her 6-year-old Goop, and other stars who have put their oar into the brand-extension waters (Reese Witherspoon announced her upcoming line of Southern products, Draper James, this year), Alba isn't seen as elitist or entitled. (Her profile as an actress in such movies as the Fantastic Four and Sin City franchises arguably is lower-wattage.) She appears uncomplaining and accessible, calling out to her "tweeples" on Twitter about what she's "stoked to be a part of." Plus, her multi-ethnic background (her dad is Mexican, her mother Danish and French Canadian) gives her a reach not necessarily afforded every actress in Hollywood.
But with any business that enters the arena of nontoxic lifestyle products (a market worth $10 billion, according to a recent report by research and consulting firm Natural Marketing Institute) — especially one with a name like The Honest Co. — comes scrutiny. There has been chatter in the media about a supposed rivalry between Alba and Paltrow, which began during a March 2013 interview promoting Alba's best-selling book The Honest Life, when she compared herself to Paltrow: "I didn't grow up with a bunch of money, so my tips are much more grounded." Paltrow then reportedly was overheard disparaging Alba as a hypocrite and in April posted an item on Goop questioning the safety of Honest Co.'s Multi-Surface Cleaner. Alba says the idea that there is friction with Paltrow is "craziness." (Honest Co. partner Christopher Gavigan, a family friend of Paltrow's, says she offered to take down the reference, but he declined. Paltrow did not respond to a request for comment.)
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mods, i cut my original post and left 2 paragraphs now. hope this will do for the third time. sorry!
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