Commercial Example

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara

Explanation:

The main message that is shown from this advertisement is that Maybelline Great Lash is America’s favorite mascara, so it should be yours too. Its message is that “you don’t want to be the only one that’s not using this mascara!” if its America’s favorite mascara, then it must be good! The advertisement is made by Maybelline, which is a popular cosmetics company. They use big fonts and a picture of the mascara to make the slogan, “America’s favorite mascara” stand out so that everyone can read it and know it must be good if everyone in America thinks it is.

This advertisement was in a Teen Vogue, which is a well know and popular magazine that is read by a lot of teenage girls. The target audience would be teenagers who read this magazine. It also shows a message to teenagers, that if its America’s favorite mascara, it could make them fit in and be popular. This ad speaks to the girl or cosmetic user who wants to fit in, be popular and be like everyone else. It makes them think, well if everyone else is using it, I should too.

This propaganda gives a negative message to society. It makes society believe that to fit in, they need to buy a certain product. This is negative because it doesn't leave room for anyone to be an individual person, and creates impossible standards for people to live up to if they want to be cool. The viewers might get the message, that if they don't own this product, they aren't cool and don't fit in to the latest trends. What if more and more products use this technique of propaganda to bring in customers? It will create standards of cool that are just impossible for people to reach.

The type of propaganda used in this example is bandwagon. The propagandist in this example has used bandwagon to send a message that since everyone is doing this, you should too. The advertisement uses bandwagon, as it says, “America’s favorite mascara.” This shows that since everyone in America is buying it, you should too, because you don’t want to be left out of this trend. The other words on the advertisement says “no wonder one gets sold every 1.7 seconds” which makes people think that since so many get sold, many people use it and it is popular. This kind of propaganda works well because no one wants to be left out of a popular trend or something that is cool. The main message that is given by this advertisement is if everyone is buying, it must be good, so you should too. It makes you ask the question, “Do I really want to be the only person in America who doesn’t use this product?”

When I saw this advertisement, it “spoke” to me because it made me think that it must be really good if that many people buy it and if it is “America’s favorite mascara, it must be a great product. It spoke with a lot of confidence in the product, proudly saying that it is America’s favorite mascara, and there are no questions that need to be asked about it.

Teen Vogue

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Page 151

Analysis

You are flipping through the latest Teen Vogue, looking at all the latest trends and coolest outfits, when you turn to the back, and look at the advertisement. It says, “America’s Favorite Mascara”. Before you even know what it is, you know that you must have it. The audience that this is directed towards is teenagers. The technique of bandwagon works on teenagers, as teenagers want to fit in and have something that is “America’s Favorite”. It sends out the message, that if you don’t use this mascara, you won’t be cool and you won’t fit in. It also sends out the message, that if everyone’s buying it, so should you.

The whole story is that the information is not all provided. When you look at the slogan “America’s Favorite Mascara”, you believe it. It’s in large, convincing font and it’s looking at you, and you have to trust it, just because it is on Teen Vogue. How do they know it’s “America’s Favorite Mascara”? Have they done a survey of everyone in America? And if it’s based on sales, how long were they for, and how can they be sure? Also the slogan, “No wonder one is sold every 1.7 seconds” can be misleading. They don’t give all the information to the viewer.

There are positive and negative effects of this propaganda on society if people believe it without questioning the propaganda. A positive effect is that if people buy this product, they will have higher self esteem. When you know that you have “America’s Favorite Mascara”, you know that you fit in to everyone. A teenager would feel good when they wear it, because of the advertising, and it could ultimately make the have higher self esteem for them self. The mascara also works, so it would make people feel better when they saw themselves. Another positive effect that this propaganda has on society is that it’s sold in a lot of stores and pharmacies like Target, Walgreens, Rite-Aid and many others. If this product has an increase in sales, it could cause customers to buy their other products, and the economy of the company could rise. It could also make the sales of Maybelline rise. A negative effect that this propaganda can have on society if people believe it without questioning is, teenagers won’t be their own person and show expression in their own way. A lot of teenagers show their emotions through their fashion, or their make-up. If a well known teen magazine is telling them that this is “America’s Favorite Mascara” teenagers will think they have to use it. They’ll stop expressing their own tastes, which isn’t a huge deal when it’s just concerning make-up, but it may come to fitting in in other ways. These could be serious, like standing up for someone who’s being bullied. Another point is that, if people trust the Teen Vogue on everything, they could be influence in bad ways. Some of the content might not be appropriate for teenagers to believe. For example, there is a lot of stuff on dieting, which isn’t necessarily a good thing for teenagers to think they need to do.

It made me think that I need to buy it to fit in with everyone else.

Overall, I believe that this is negative propaganda, as it makes people think that they have to buy it, and they could start believing everything that they read in that magazine.