The Garnier BB Cream commercial advertises this product to be a "miracle skin perfecter" which renews your skin in an instant. The creator of this advert has used a "simple" approach by keeping everything plain which makes it look quite fresh. The simple language and slogans used makes it easy to understand what BB Cream is without going into any detail. There is no major colours or items shown which can distract us from the message they are trying to get across. One of the spokeswomen says "My skin, perfect. Just like that" while she snaps her fingers. It is a simple quote which gets straight to the point. This approach is effective as it enables their target audience, teenage girls, to truly understand that their product is user friendly and far from anything complicated.
The choice of spokeswomen is very stereotypical towards teenage girls. The two girls who appear in this commercial present teenagers to have clear and bright skin. Even before the application of the BB Cream, the spokeswomen has smooth skin with very few blemishes. This is a false representation of teenage girls as there is many different types of skin in the teenage population which can not be instantly fixed with a layer of the Garnier BB Cream. This representation puts pressure on teenagers in our society to achieve the clarity we see in the spokeswomen's skin. The message which Garnier is trying to get across is that, if you use our miracle skin perfecter, your skin will look exactly like these models, clear and even, when in reality it will only supply minimum coverage.
You will not instantly go from having skin like this: To looking like this:
I know that Garnier wants beautiful young girls to advertise their BB Cream in order to attract teenagers who are looking for an easy answer to covering their skin, but the consequences are that girls are beating themselves up because they don't have that photo-ready look once they have used this product. By representing teenage girls with models who have gorgeous complexions, issues in societies are rising as society is expecting more and more teenage girls to have clear skin, when in reality there are more girls struggling, fighting the battle against acne.
The perception of beauty which is presented to society and targeting teenage girls by the Garnier BB Cream commercial is a high step from reality. Girls are trying to make the jump to the next step by absorbing what they hear and see about this product.
One layer and all your flaws will disappear. Nothing is quite this simple and because the media is presenting our exterior beauty to be this easy to expressed, they are influencing false expectations in societies against teenage girls.
Garnier is not the only brand of make-up which uses the beauty of their models to present their products. The Maybelline New York Superstay 14 hour Lipstick is advertised to be super-weightless, fade free and continuously glossy. Like Garnier, the creator of this advert has taken a "simple" approach to advertising this product. The background is white and the spokeswomen's attire is casual-dress. Because this lipstick is bright and the bold font matches the lipstick colour on the model, the white background enhances our vision to focus on the message Maybelline is trying to get across. It is simple and clear which makes it easy for Maybelline's audience, mostly teenage girls and young women, to understand their product. Their slogan, "It's a One-step Hit" compliments the approach of the creators as it is simple and sums up the idea of Maybelline's Superstay 14 hour Lipstick.
Maybelline uses the same approach as Garnier for advertising their product. With the simple theme for their advert it makes sense that the models presenting their products have effortless beauty. The girls have a natural look about them with their clear skin and even tones. This causes stereotypes to be made about women. They are being represented by females with photo-ready skin and hair that falls perfectly when in reality not all women and teenage girls have the complexion of a Maybelline spokeswomen. Because the media is using specific women for advertisements, society's idea of women has high expectations of beauty. They compare them to what they see on these adverts which causes a certain pressure on women to constantly look their best without being over-the-top. Maybelline presents their product successfully as they use the stereotype of women created by the media to represent their audience in order to attract customers.
Garnier and Maybelline represent their target audience, women and teenage girls, with the stereotypical spokeswomen, which effects the way society looks at this group with in themselves. Because they link a certain type of beauty with their products, society's expectation of women reflects the stereotype shown in their adverts. The difference between the representation of teenage girls (and women) shown by these products, and reality is that everyone is unique. Garnier BB Cream and Maybelline Superstay Lipstick may not be the best products for everyone. By presenting their products with models that are photo-ready there is unnecessary pressure on women and girls to try and reach those beauty standards. The reality is that everyone has different skin, so Garnier BB Cream may not be suitable for certain skin types and Maybelline Superstay Lipstick shades might not match your skin tone. Just because the media represents women and teenage girls in this way, it does not mean that society needs to apply the pressure for them to match it.
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