Hailee Steinfeld’s New Ad Is a Symptom of a Country Losing Its…

Another day, another celebrity telling you to buy something while pretending it’s a moral cause. This time it’s Hailee Steinfeld, the 29-year-old actress and singer who first won our hearts as a foul-mouthed 13-year-old in *True Grit* and then spent a decade being famous for being famous. Her latest venture? A partnership with a wellness brand that promises to “redefine self-care for the modern woman.” Translation: another beautiful millionaire selling you $68 face cream and calling it empowerment. I don’t have a personal grudge against Steinfeld. She seems pleasant. She can carry a tune. But that’s exactly the problem. We live in a country where a decent singing voice and a pretty face now qualify you as a lifestyle guru, a mental-health advocate, and a moral authority all at once. Steinfeld’s Instagram post announcing the deal used the phrase “radical rest.” Radical. Rest. As if taking a nap requires a political movement. As if a woman with a personal chef and a Peloton in her guest house understands what it means to be exhausted in America. This is not about one ad. It’s about the air we breathe. Everywhere you look, celebrities are selling us the idea that our problems are personal, not systemic. Can’t afford healthcare? Practice “radical self-love.” Working two jobs and still can’t pay rent? Try “mindful breathing.” Your kid is addicted to screens? Buy this $200 “digital detox kit” endorsed by a star who has never once had to choose between groceries and Wi-Fi. The message is always the same: your suffering is a failure of consumption, not a failure of the system that profits from it. Steinfeld’s rise is part of a larger pattern. We used to have movie stars who made movies. Now we have “brands” who make ads for other brands. The line between entertainment and commerce has dissolved so completely that young people genuinely believe the point of being famous is to sell things. And why wouldn’t they? Turn on any social media feed and you’ll see a parade of influencers—Steinfeld included—modeling the same behavior: monetize your identity, then sell it back to the people who made you. Meanwhile, the actual crises keep piling up. Inflation is crushing families. Public schools are falling apart. Opioid deaths are still climbing. And our cultural elite responds by launching a skincare line. It’s not that Steinfeld is uniquely guilty. She’s just the latest symbol of a society that has traded meaning for marketing. We used to want heroes. Now we want influencers. And we get what we pay for. The real radical act in 2025 isn’t resting. It’s refusing to buy what celebrities are selling. It’s turning off the phone, looking at your neighbor, and asking what we can do together instead of what we can purchase alone. Hailee Steinfeld doesn’t owe us a revolution. But we owe ourselves a lot more than another face cream.