Every day, people in America are encountered with numerous advertisements for various companies. It may be a makeup product, a new CD, an environmental outreach organization; a new flavor of Gatorade… the list goes on. In a single magazine, there must be hundreds of ads. Flipping through one particular magazine I ran across a stunning picture of the artist/actress Beyonce Knowles. I didn’t know what exactly she was advertising, or if it was an advertisement at all but her face kept me glued to that page to figure it out.
Furthermore, this specific advertisement reveals the message through its theme. It also has a variety of ways in how it attempts to sell the product and if I believe it is effective. This essay also goes into what kind of theme comes off from the advertisement. At a first glance of the picture, I’m almost certain that most consumers as well I had no clue what exactly the model was trying to sell. In an essence, you don’t really care what she’s trying to sell.
You see her flawless face, perfect hair, perfect makeup, beautiful bone structure, glowing skin, and realize you look poorly side to her. In most girls minds, “ how do I look like THAT?! ” is there urgent thought, and that is exactly the message that the advertisement portrays. The color of the lipstick also has a lot to do with their target. Red lipstick is known to be a trademark and in this ad you see a young, feisty, powerful, glamorous young women in Beyonce that most guys are attracted to; but there are also millions of girls that would die to look like that just for a split second.
Sadly, that is exactly what these companies want when selling a product, the vulnerability of their customers. You may wonder how a one page, barely labeled, advertisement can lead to a million more customers… easy; when they have the face of Beyonce taking up 97% of the page. The multi-millionaire celebrity has a huge fan base, and simply using her name or face is going to make the companies’ numbers sky rocket. The biggest font used said the brand name “ L’OREAL” in which has many products ranging from hair dye, to conditioners, to makeup.
In my opinion, the most ineffective part of this ad would be the balance of promotion and actually advertising. They made the main focus the model, which is good; but they should also make sure people know what they are being influenced to buy. In the smallest font is the actual description of the product: it stated “ Infallible Never Fail Lipcolour in Beyonce’s Red (399)”. If people knew what they needed to purchase right off the bat, I think it would give a more long lasting memory till the next time they visit their local drugstore.
Ultimately, many companies in the industry have various techniques and ways they sell their products. I think the tone that was set in this picture was mostly positive. It had symbolic colors and pose, although it did not use as much context. Using a hugely favored celebrity to portray “ Hey, I use/love this product. ” is an instant success. Media does a lot to target those who are vulnerable to a certain need and would spend a limitless amount of money to get that need whether it is to have the face of a doll or the body of a supermodel.
