Do celebrity endorsements turn into votes on election day?

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh's gossipy TV interview earlier this month about getting Instagram-followedand messaged by pop star Rihannagenerated a ton of headlines, as did the endorsements from poet Rupi Kaur and more recently Drakeproducer Noah Shebib.

Actor Ryan Reynolds took to Twitter tolethis nearly 15 million followers know he's "proud of the climate progress made the last four years," in a not-so-subtle nodto the federal Liberal Party.

Pamela Andersonon the other hand, is lending her star powerto the Green Party, appearing in personwith candidatesand amplifying the Green message across her personal social media platforms.

And on Wednesday, Barack Obama dropped the A-bomb of endorsements to his 110million Twitter followers, asking "neighbors to the north" to support Justin Trudeau for another term.

Attemptsto leverage the outrageous popularity of a very famous person for political gain is nothing new.

But the question is: do celebrity endorsements actually generate more votescome electionday?

Simon Fraser University communicationsprofessor Peter Chow-White says the answer is yes, but with the addendum that not all celebrity endorsements are created equal.

"Barack Obama backing Trudeau, that's a game changer," said Chow-White. "He's a highly respected international person, known for diplomacy and a very well-respected president things that people are kind of nostalgicfor right now."

Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hadcelebrities lining up to support themin the last U.S. presidential election.

Clinton boasted the likes of LeBron James, Katy Perry, Ellen DeGeneres, Beyonce and Snoop Dogg. Trump countered with Kirstie Alley, Tom Brady, Dennis Rodman, Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan.

Chow-White says elections are about the "politics of attention," something that expresses itself differently in Canada given the lack of celebrity culture here relative to the United States.

Acelebrity endorsement can help attract a voter to a candidate they know little about says Chow-White. But healso believes there is a limit to their influence, especially those in the entertainment world, regardless oftheir armyofsocial media followers.

"Ryan Reynolds, he's very funnyand an actor. Rihanna is a singer ... and I'm sure they'revery smart and thoughtful people," said Chow-White. "But how many followers translate to voters? You have to look at who votes it's well known that youthful voters ... vote the least out of everybody."

Conversely, he sees Obama's endorsement reaching an audience that is mostly receptiveand who view him as a paragon of credibility.

"The right person, talking about the right thing in the right space," said Chow-White.

The Canadian federal election is Monday, Oct. 21.