The advertisement I have chosen is for Revlon mascara. In the ad, they strategically use a beautiful well-known celebrity, Halle Berry. The ad uses an image of a happy woman; Revlon has their product shown, their company name in large letters, as well as a quote by Halle Berry. It is also promised that users lashes will be “100% FULLER”. This ad appeals to my demographic because, I am a young woman who often wears make up, and desires to achieve the best look. The majority of the women I know, wear make up and are concerned with their appearance. Companies use this knowledge to be successful with their sales. Revlon is promising that users will be fabulous if we wear this mascara. Implying that we are not fabulous before, and we can only achieve being fabulous, while wearing their product. Revlon has made many claims and promises through multiple ads. This is why a young woman like myself buys into it all.
I do believe this ad is a success; an example to support that is from chapter 12 and states, “Simply being labelled as ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ may determine your behavior to some extent” (p. 185). Society has these gender roles, and girls are pressured into doing ‘girly’ things, like wearing make up. We are not considered beautiful women, unless we apply make up and look appealing to the opposite sex. The text also explains “Western culture glorifies the individual”(189). Personally I feel this portrays women as sexy within the media while men can only be viewed as strong, dominant and nothing less.
This ad represents that quote because they are trying to glorify being a beautiful woman. While looking through a magazine this ad would catch my eye because I of course want to fit into societies norms of being beautiful, I want to “BE FABULASH” (Revlons ad). It is unfortunate that the media has this amount of control over us, but we are willing to ‘enhance’ the way we look, in order to fit into our gender roles, and come across as attractive. Revlon as a company is a success, and a major reason why, is because of their control on young women, through the media.
O’Shaughnessy, Michael, and Jane Stadler. Media And Society. 5th ed. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 2012. 52-56. Print.
mb12qe 