Saturday, September 22, 2012
Do Commercials Really Work?
For this blog post I am sharing a MAC makeup advertisement that I found interesting. We were supposed to view it and see if it was effective or not, and also why. Watch and enjoy!
My love for makeup is borderline obsession but when first seeing this advertisement, I had no idea what it was for. MAC isn’t the cheapest beauty product in the world but when I can afford it, I buy it. I continued to watch only because of the fact that they had it setup to appear like a comic strip which is unlike any other commercial I had ever seen. They also used Wonder Woman which I knew had to be some sort of empowering "womens’ movement" propaganda. As I sat there reading the bubbles, I seen that they called the woman 'plain Janes. I knew right then and there that this was a beauty commercial. I know that everything in the world is not centered on beauty and looks but most women and even some men will not pass up the chance to look better. The use of Medusa as the evil one was pure genius and I think that MAC did a great job and catching the audience they were looking for...women who want to look their best.
This commercial from MAC makeup sure made me want to go out and purchase their products in order to prevent me from looking like Medusa or a plain Jane. Every woman wants to be like Wonder Woman!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I actually have a very different take on this commercial. I think that the graphics were great. I really loved the way that it was composed and the visual effect of going through the comic strip. The way that certain elements are made more three dimensional than the traditional strip, and some elements were set into motion to bring more movement and activity to the already heavily graphic and impactful frames. However, the audience for the ad has be a little confused. Obviously MAC, as a cosmetics company is trying to appeal to women who will buy their product. For me the MAC image just doesn't go well with Wonder Woman. Yes, Wonder Woman has always been about female empowerment, but I don't feel like makeup fits well into the message. Calling women who don't use makeup Plain Janes makes sense, but instead of bringing in non makeup wearing comic fan girls (which I would say a good many are) it serves to alienate them. A truly powerful woman wouldn't need makeup to make her more attractive or powerful, she would be confident in who she already was, which to me is the theme of Wonder Woman. It also made me immediately think of the mistress of the strip's creator after whom the character was arguably modeled in some ways. (she always wore metal bracelets on both wrists etc.)and what role beauty played in that. I also find the image of Wonder Woman with blue eye shadow on somewhat ridiculous. It may sound odd, but although I loved the commercial, I hated the message. MAC products are out of this comic girl's price range, and after seeing how they and DC who licensed it, defaced her, I'm not too disappointed. And I'm even more glad that I'm more of a Marvel girl!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a unique commecial, it is very different from the other makeup brands with a famous women with flawless skin in pretty eyeshadow. I love makeup too, but I agree that this commmercial captured my attention and also thought it was a clever idea. Although it is too expensive for me, since I don't wear make up too often. But I liked your take on the commerical. Good post!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed viewing the ad you posted for this blog post. It was a very unique and captivating ad. I do have to agree a little bit with what Gretchen has to say though. The message could be looked as at being offensive to those who don't wear makeup or to those who don't feel as though they need makeup to be beautiful. I feel as though women should be recognized for inner beauty not makeup effects. Therefore, I agree that Wonder Woman doesn't fit for MAC. I enjoyed looking at your blog. Good job!
ReplyDelete