I saw an advertizement for Covergirl's new eye enhancers, mascara, and eyeliner. This ad first caught my attention because very bold colors were shown. Then I noticed the catch phrase, "don't live in someone else's shadow!" This phrase drew me even more into the advertisement. This tag line draws the consumers in and appeals to them using the need for attention. This is because the ad is trying to make you think that if you buy the product, you will be an individual. You will stand out and not be living in someone else's shadow. This ad also plays off of our need for autonomy. The advertisers are trying to make us believe that by buying this product we will stand out. The advertising technique testimonial was used. Taylor Swift is being used to endorse the product. By putting Taylor Swift in the ad, they are luring in their target audience of teenage girls. The teenagers that idolize her and want to be like her will want to buy the product because she has it. Glittering generalities was also used. They use the word "shadow" in their pitch. When someone thinks of a shadow they immediately begin to think of "grey" and "dark". They believe that when you buy the product you will step out of the darkness and be so much happier. The techniques the advertisers used on this advertisement were very successful.
I agree with all of the techniques and emotional appeals you mentioned above. In addition to those, I think this ad also uses the fallacy of equivocation. The tagline uses the word "shadow." While this could be percieved in the way you mentioned above, however it could also, since this is a cosmetics ad, be talking about eyeshadow. I have found that ads like this in particular, makeup ads, love to use equivocation as a play on words.
ReplyDelete