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Covergirl Cosmetics

Good Essays

Sex sells. We’ve all heard this before, so it’s nothing new, but a good advertiser is always aware that sex can also offend – so you have to tread a very fine line. The ad we are deconstructing, a print ad for Covergirl cosmetics, walks that line very well and is setting them up to reap the benefits of another well-planned advertising campaign. Covergirl is a heavyweight in the world of cosmetics that has been used for decades by women and girls alike, and as such they are very skilled at appealing to everyone within that very wide demographic. The advertisement we are looking at is a full page print ad for a new Covergirl product that appeared in a recent ladies fitness magazine. While the specific product being sold here is a new type of foundation (more about that in a moment), more than two-thirds of the page is actually just a large photo of country songstress Taylor Swift ‘making eyes’ at the camera (and us, of course) with her hands placed gracefully behind her head. She’s wearing a delicately ruffled dress in the softest pink …show more content…

If it weren’t for the Covergirl logo that appears in delicate, soft green print across the top of Taylor’s photo, I would think that she was what’s for sale. But that’s kind of the point: Taylor Swift is a well-known and generally very well liked entertainer who appeals to a broad range of people. She is sweet and young and very attractive, but not over the top or overly adult, keeping her safe and accessible for a younger demographic. Who could ask for more? She is the epitome of the fine line we mentioned earlier – just the right balance between sexy and sweet and able to appeal to a wide range of women, women who have plenty of money to spend in the cosmetics industry, and a smart ad knows that. The product is of course mentioned to us at the bottom of the ad, so they are selling us make up; they just got us ‘in the door’ by selling us a little Taylor

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