I can’t help it, but I get suspicious whenever multi-jillionaire celebrities launch alleged self-esteem-raising campaigns. As if it wasn’t just about trying to sell more units … which is an understandable goal, of course, but often these same celebrities promote the exact opposite message in much of their product. Thus Beyoncé offers her #WhatIsPretty project, encouraging fans to post images reflecting their personal answers to that question at Instagram. Yeah, that’s the same Beyoncé who has made countless girls feel ugly, inferior and asexual while watching her videos.

I wrote about this project and my response to it at Psychology Today yesterday. And I remain really torn: These things are decent ideas, and maybe they get people thinking more positively about themselves, and being helmed by celebrities they definitely get a lot of press. But uh … in the long term … do they have any lasting effects?