As I was watching the latest episode of Pretty Little Liars, one of my many favorite television shows, I was extremely frustrated as another advertisement interrupted the program. Neutrogena, one of ABC Family’s many sponsors, played yet another one of their facial cleanser advertisements. And, as Vanessa Hudgens’s smiling, flawless face popped up on screen yet again, I realized that the quick, thirty-second add was inundated with rhetoric.
The ad primarily made use of the logos (logic) and ethos (ethic) appeal. When analyzing the advertisement itself, it seems like a good idea to start with Hudgens herself. Made popular by her role as Gabriella in the Disney movie series, High School Musical, Vanessa is an idol to many of the adolescent girls that most probably also watch the drama. Vanessa’s appearance, most notably her clear, glowing complexion and her hair – pulled back to emphasize her face – already speaks wonders for the Neutrogena product that she’s endorsing. If anyone is qualified to talk about face washes, it would definitely be someone with an appearance like hers. And, anyone with even the slightest traces of acne – a relatively common condition among teenage girls – will be only too willing to take her advice and try one of Neutrogena’s latest products.
In addition to an appeal to ethos, the ad appeals to the audience’s logos as well, providing the viewer with a list of symptoms that the medicine treats and adding in a comment that the product that Neutrogena is “recommended most by dermatologists.”
Neutrogena’s marketing team knows exactly how to target its adolescent audience, by including a famous face with flawless skin and demonstrating dermatologist approval. This effective rhetorical argument for Neutrogena’s Oil-Free Acne Cleanser is sure to win at a few new customers.
I completely agree with you-- her skin is enviously flawless and that helps to establish an ethos with the audience. To me it seems like an effective commercial, and I'm not even an adolescent girl!
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ReplyDeleteHooray for ethical analysis! I do like your post, in writing and brevity, but I only have one question...does Vanessa's not-too-recent sexual scandal inhibit her ability to appeal emotionally, especially to a younger audience? (Unless this was shot before the incident...)
ReplyDeleteAll in all, you present arguments for ethos and logos for a 30 second advertisement in about...a third of the space it took me, but with the same eloquence. So grand kudos to you, Jean!