Advertisements of Beauty Products - Essay Example

? Dis Analysis Dis Analysis This is a study to look into advertisements of beauty products in magazines from a critical discourse analysis perspective. We shall pay close attention to the strategy and how the agencies use language in these advertisements to influence and win over their clients. A qualitative research on advertisements by one of the leading beauty product producers was conducted. The results showed that advertisers use various techniques to manipulate customers into purchasing their products. This kind of advertising spills over into other industries such as the retail industry and is not only localized to beauty products. These advertisements promote an ideal way of life and manipulate the audience into accepting those ideals as their reality. This analysis intends to break down how agencies have reformed the idea of beauty through countless magazine articles, billboards and other media. They do this by enforcing the stereotype that those beauty products are a better way of life. They send the message that youth is beauty, and that beauty is very important yet they set the bar for beauty so high that clients would always depend on their products. The people behind these advertisements have found ways of controlling peoples’ minds using language in the advertisements. The focus on this study is print advertisements done by Nivea, a company synonymous with the manufacture of beauty products allover the world. They portray a message that they care deeply about the real people and their beauty through their advertisements. Introduction “Discourse refers to the codes, rules and systems that under-gird a particular message and thus shapes its meaning and interpretation”. Language is all around us whether written or spoken. It is a core part of our day to day activities and has a profound effect on people and how they behave. This influence is seen in the field of advertising and marketing. Language is employed in these two fields to relay certain messages to the public. Language is used as a tool to not only pass on information about a product but also convince and influence the product choice of the customers. The competition for consumers is very high among product manufacturers. This has led to the revolution of how advertisements are designed. They use not only words but color, pictures and lighting to appeal to the consumer. It is the use of such tools as visual and linguistic means to persuade their audience that has led many a scholar to argue that, “advertising is the most influential institution of socialization in modern society” (Jhally, 1995). Cook (2001) points out that advertisements inform, persuade, remind, influence and perhaps change opinions, emotions and attitudes. It is used to emphasize the uniqueness of a product and give reasons why a person should consider it over others already in the market. Advertising can be seen on food packages, billboards, newspapers, magazines, on buses and the Internet just to list a few. This kind of aggressive advertising ensures the audience is aware of a product at all times and remembers it. Advertising is “any type of form of public announcement intended to direct people’s attention to the availability, qualities and/or cost of specific commodities or services” (Fairclough, 2001). The stakeholders of the products are responsible for what we see in these advertisements. They reserve the power to use advertising to further their goals, good or otherwise. They pick advertising media according to their target audience. Magazines are popular with the youth and a slightly older demographic. The Internet on the other hand is popular with the younger generation. The language and depictions used in advertisements is also influenced by the target population. Advertisements have evolved from direct methods being shouted by mouth to the public in open spaces to being transferred indirectly form of print, videos, audio messages in the radio or sound and video together. Nivea is a brand of body and skin care products that is popular all over the world. It is the product of a German company by the name of Beiersdorf. They make products for men, women and children. Nivea has numerous advertisements to ensure they increase their hold over the cosmetic clientele. This study is aimed at identifying the linguistic features used by Nivea in their product advertisements and the discursive techniques they use in beauty product advertisements to manipulate the public. This analysis tries to identify the messages undergirding some of Nivea’s advertisements. There have been instances whereby their advertisements have come under scrutiny as containing falsehood. It made news some time in the past, when one of their advertisements for an anti-ageing cream was banned as it depicted an old person getting younger (www.nivea.co.us). A successful advertisement should achieve the following: attract attention, creates desire, command interest, inspires conviction and provokes action. This help in fulfilling the goals of the manufacturer. Most advertisements are designed around one common structure, that is; headline, illustration, body and logo. The headline is short and uses the largest font. It touches on the self interest of the reader. The subhead line sometimes appears under the headline. The illustration contains images or photos of the product in use. The body is usually written in smaller font but its presentation may vary. It gives in depth details about the product and the offer. It involves the reader on a personal level. It might even offer expert opinion. The tagline is where the manufacturing company’s log appears. Data analysis and findings Four random advertisements on skin and body care products were analyzed for their use of discourse. The first piece, below, is for men’s’ lotion. In this one, the headline reads, “Who said men can’t multi-task.” The words are written in upper case bold letters to enhance its visibility. The advertisement makers use bandwagon technique and use what they assume most people think to gain subscribers to their cause. They employ the use of propaganda in the statement, “men can’t multi task.” This piece appeals to those who feel otherwise and tries to show them they can do both. The illustration is the picture of a happy man with smooth skin and a picture of the product in question. The man is good looking and is touching his face to show he is pleased with his smooth skin. The picture symbolizes beauty, especially in youth, by having one’s face shaven to be smooth a like a child’s. the younger generation usually have smoother skin. The subhead line explains the title further to mean that it is the product that provides moisturizing and protection, which are two services in one product. The body explains exactly what the product is and what is contains. It is written in small font showing that the manufacturer desired the reader pay it little attention. The statement, “For men who dare to care” is used to provoke the masculinity in men. From this, we gather that the manufacturers want the men to feel like they are understood by the brand makers. They show that they are concerned with the generalization and wish to give power back to the men with this new product. A possible message is that Nivea wants to empower men and also using the product will give you such a face. The hand on his face emphasizes his appreciation for the work done by the product. The second, below, piece is about a face cream. The headline is, “Beauty is a statement” and “Face the future with firmer skin.” This, also written in uppercase bold, is designed for people with rough skin or those who are scared of looking old by emphasizing that they can always look beautiful. It mentions that they can have firmer skin even as they grow old. The illustration is the picture of a woman with almost perfect skin smiling at the reader and a picture of the product. She is very attractive showing a naughty yet mysterious demeanor. Her confidence screams, “Look at me, am better than you.” The fact that she does not look directly at you is evidence to that fact. The subheading gives more detail as to the contents of the product. The body explains how the product work and its point of action and the result of such action. A possible message is that by using this product, one looks younger and beautiful and that having rough or loose skin or being older means one is ugly. The theme beauty is power can be seen in her confidence. The third is a about a skin product for both men and women that smoothens the skin. The headline is, “For visibly smooth and touchably soft skin.” This emphasizes the benefits of the product in question how it makes the look smooth and feels soft when touched. It appeals also to the people with rough skin or wrinkly skin who it to be smoother. The body, “repairs dryness for 24 hour smoothness” expounds on the headline and gives more detail on how the product works as well as the duration the effect lasts. The illustration is a head to abdomen picture of a man and a woman who are partly clothed and the product. The two are holding each other in a tight embrace while the man looks at the woman’s skin, as though smelling it, with desire as one of his hands is touching her smooth bare back. The man’s desire is symbolic for the beauty that is found in youthful skin and youth in general. The woman is smiling, evidence that she is having fun and is happy. Her hand too is touching the man but on his shoulder. The picture depicts a sexual situation that is meant to capture the readers’ eyes. Then, we have the logo and the words “100 years skin care for life.” A possible message is that smoother skin is more desirable and that using that using the product will make them so. The picture focuses on the woman who is at the front, which means the product is mostly targeted toward the women. Secretly, the she is telling the reader that by using the product, they can have what she is having. In conclusion, we discovered that these advertisements have structure. All the words are carefully selected and displayed in ways that will demand attention and provoke thought. These advertisements are designed to influence people way of life and the choices they make. For example, Nivea’s advertisements are intended to make people feel that they are not beautiful, capable or desirable enough in their current states. They provoke the emotion, thought and action of the reader through depictions of beautiful people who are happy due to the use of their products. This leads them into happy situations and we all know everyone wants to be happy, don’t we. The purpose of all these advertisements and the hidden messages all drive towards one thing, we are not good enough unless we use their products. The do this through stereotyping in women and men, through propaganda and by provoking the sexual desires that are in all of us. Reference Cook, G. (2001). Discourse of advertising. New York, NY: Routledge. Bernstein, D. (1974). Creative Advertising. London: Longman. Jhally, S. Image-based culture. Advertising and popular culture. In Dines, G. & Humez, J. M. (Eds.), (1995).Gender, race and class in media. A text-reader(pp. 77-88). Thousands Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications. Fairclough, N. (2001). Language and power. New York : Longman. Beiersdorf - NIVEA. (n.d.). Beiersdorf - NIVEA. Retrieved November 13, 2013, from Read More