Advertisement appeals to our most instinctive and irrational feelings. Who would think you can actually lose 50 lbs with the Ultimate Fat Burner and resemble the astoundingly beautiful young woman who advertises it? Who would think McDonald's employees are willing to give you fries and a smile at the same time, as on the TV ads? Traditionally, advertisement has two goals that is to inform and persuade. In today's consumer society the public is aware of the available products. Consequently, advertisers are more concerned with persuading the public that the product or service they provide is better than the competitors. This is where the art of persuasion intervenes along with the other alternatives.
[...] Such phenomenon is especially true in today's fashion and cosmetics ads. The concerned brands usually choose a charismatic figure that embodies the message the brand wants to convey; this personality then becomes more important to the brand than the product itself. For instance, Elizabeth Hurley is the image of Estee Lauder, for the make's perfumes as well as for its cosmetics' line: these ads just show the dazzling model in different situations; even information on the product is barely mentioned, apart from its name and a ridiculously tiny image of the bottle of perfume, for instance, in a corner of the ad for Beautiful. [...]
[...] In this view, today's advertising turns products into such gods that they become untouchable and unattainable, justifying that nowadays the product itself is rarely advertised: it has all become a matter of style and attitude. Thus, the evolution of advertisement celebrates the cult of image and the search for strong identities to which people can cling. As suggested by advertising guru James Twitchell, the importance of brand image is obviously due to the loss of traditional bearings, so much so that “we're starting to build our identity around driving a Lexus or displaying Ralph Lauren's polo player on our shirt”[6]. [...]
[...] In this 1954 ad (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/BH/BH04/BH0459-72dpi.jpeg), pretty Kitty Kallen achieves success by taming her “stringy” and “gruesome looking hair” thanks to Halo shampoo. The cartoon that illustrates the ad follows the transformation of Kitty Kallen as she uses Halo. The consumers feel sympathetic for this active character who is determined to fight her problem. The lexical field of success and happiness associated with that of stardom “glorifies”, adds some ethos to it. The efficiency of Halo makes it an irreplaceable ally for stars, so much so that it is personified in the slogan “Halo is the shampoo that glorifies your hair”. [...]
[...] This is typical of American ads from the 1920s and recalls the one for Bourjois's Manon Lescaut Face Powder entitled Only French But Parisian” (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/BH/BH20/BH2080-72dpi.jpeg), in which the ethos of the Parisian woman was the selling argument. Nice has its importance as an element of style and fashion, but also as one of reliability, since it accompanies Leblanc's signature. Another Palmolive ad from 1925 entitled Mother's Duty” (http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/adaccess/BH/BH10/BH1007-72dpi.jpeg) uses the same devices. The term itself emphasizes a sense of moral responsibility that appeals both logos and pathos (sense of concerned motherhood) of buying mothers. [...]
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