Makeup advertisements, especially for cover-up, have
strongly persuaded me for essentially all of my teenage to adult life. Growing
up, acne and rosacea have been a major self-consciousness that causes me to
feel unattractive. This is mainly due to the way society has perceived the way
beautiful women are suppose to look. Models and actresses are never shown with
blemishes, creating this myth that in order for me to have a chance of being
admired like these women, I would need clear looking skin. Model’s, along with
actresses, are even consistently used in these advertisements, bringing the
myth’s connection of these women’s beauty to the makeup they illustrate.
In this advertisement, Jessica Alba, an actress, is modeling
this new cover-up for Revlon; a cover-up that changes from white to the color
of ones skin so there is a perfect, flawless match. What this advertisement is
intending to sell me is, “in order for one to have flawless looking skin with a
cover-up that matched my skin tone; one would need to buy this cover-up.” However,
there is additionally a deeper impression that is being created, which is, “in
order to be beautiful and happy like Jessica Alba; one would merely need to
wear this makeup.” My first response to seeing this advertisement is that I
needed to have this cover-up because finding a cover-up that actually matched
my skin tone was extremely hard. In actuality, I truly did not need this
makeup. Makeup is actually one of the causes of my problem with acne, so why
would I want to buy what is causing my dilemma? This, along with other
advertising tactics used in our culture, is used to show society only what the
beginning product can cause, but not the after affect.
I agree with you there. Make-up advertisements only have one way that all their models or spokespeople look: flawless. It gives this perceived notion that only flawless appearances are beautiful so if you are not, you better buy this product in order to be accepted into society. However if you decide that you do not need the product it sends this subliminal message that you will never quite fit into society, and its ideal beauty for women. It almost separates the person viewing the advertisement from the rest of society based upon the use of this product. Advertisement companies are very sneaky in the messages they send.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and sblackwell. These ads and commercials are not only there to sell their product however, they are also there to point out to us how unperfect our skin or looks are, and who to help us, their product. These types of commercials have also in a way led me to think about how I should not only take care of my face but also how it should look to be accepted or categorized as okay skin becuase it will never be perfect as the actresses who present these products. Something that I have always wondered is do these actresses really use these products that we can buy at Target, Walmart, etc. or do they used something else of much more prestigue $$$
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your observation that the negative effect on young woman can be damaging. It seems to me that you have recognized this and are aware of the subconscious attack and thus can defend yourself against the endless assault of media "you're not good enough" adds, but I wonder how many women are scarred for life by these ads? After all, not everyone is self-aware and I can see this damaging a person's psyche for years and years.
ReplyDeleteI would like to point out just one thing, however. the same thing is done to males, but not nearly on the same scale and I get the feeling males are not as affected.