In high school, I was glued to the Real Housewives franchise. My mom and I followed every feud, fake friendship, and plot twist, and I vividly remember Bethenny Frankel launching Skinnygirl Margaritas. The reaction was polarizing because, at the time, many people saw it as a reality star “selling out” rather than building something meaningful.

Long before the Housewives ever Bravo’d, celebrities were known to fly to Japan to film commercials in secret so they wouldn’t risk looking like sellouts back home. Arnold Schwarzenegger famously did a slew of Japanese ads for drinks, food, and even TV networks, often negotiating to keep those campaigns out of the U.S. market entirely, all to avoid the appearance of chasing easy money.