The first advertisement I chose is from the March issue of Cosmopolitan, it’s a CoverGirl ad with Drew Barrymore for their Lash Blast Fusion mascara. The denotation of the photo is first of all Drew Barrymore and secondly the product itself, an image of the mascara in the bottom right corner. The connotation of the main part of the ad (the photo of Drew) could be different depending on the audience. This ad is meant for a woman, whose reaction might be jealousy or admiration. This is what was intended because if women admire the girl in the ad, they will want to look as beautiful as she does. This could make them want to purchase the product if the ad can convince them that the product is enhancing the model’s beauty. The photo is fresh looking with the hair pulled back, even lighting and a white background. It’s subtly sexy, appealing to the female audience. The one thing about the photo that really jumps out is her eyelashes. Her eyes are the main focus and the eyelashes are very bold, making the audience think that the reason the photo is so beautiful is because of her eyelashes, and the mascara. The myth in this ad is the notion that this type of beauty is attainable in normal life. People don’t think about Photoshop being used to smooth the skin, enhance the eyes, shape the nose, etc. They don’t think about the false lashes that Drew is wearing and the hours spent on getting the lighting just right, not to mention the professional hair and makeup artists. Of course this is one source of a lot of self-esteem issues and eating disorders in our society. This ad plays off the desires of women to be beautiful and to purchase a product that will make them more beautiful and desirable.
The second ad is for Weight Watchers from the March issue of Women’s Health. It’s for their coffee cake dessert product, which is 3 “points” according to the ad. The photo’s rich colors, warm light and close up detail of the cake make the cake look delicious. It has connotations of warmth, the taste of cinnamon, and a rich, delicious dessert. However, when the viewer sees the Weight Watchers brand name attached to this image, the connotations suddenly change. Now the cake looks like it’s low calorie, low fat, won’t make you gain weight, or is even good for you. Now we are looking at diet food that looks delicious. This invokes the cultural myth that you can “have your cake and eat it too”; that you can eat foods like coffee cake and still lose weight. In reality this diet dessert will not be as satisfying as a coffee cake that is not considered a diet food. This ad plays off the audience’s desires to lose weight, be healthy, or maybe be more attractive. But most importantly it plays on the desire to eat sweet foods like coffee cake. I have a huge weakness for desserts and just looking at this photo makes me want to eat coffee cake. By invoking that craving and at the same time offering a diet friendly option, Weight Watchers has created a convincing advertisement. Placing the ad in Women’s Health magazine seems like the perfect audience. Readers of this magazine might be trying to lose weight or get in shape, or they might just be women who eat healthy and would be interested in a diet dessert.
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