Media and Physical Appearance

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Media and Physical Appearance

I would not say that I am a slave of advertising or consumer culture, but I have always paid relatively close attention to the commercials I see on television and in magazines. Because of this trait, I would say that I am fairly perceptive of the various methods employed by advertisers, and the messages they attempt to convey. The majority of these messages I discard, and very rarely do I allow them to influence what I do and do not buy. There is one ad, however, that I remember to this day, and which I admit has dictated what I buy in one specific area. Even now, I remember the commercial quite vividly, although I was probably in elementary school when I first saw it. The ad featured a handsome teenager talking about his experience in starting a new school. A few days before the first day of classes, he breaks out with a bad case of acne. Terrified, he imagines his social life for the remainder of high school as one dominated by weekend nights watching cheesy movies at home with his parents. Miraculously, though, he is saved from this social hell by Oxy facial cleansing products. With a clear face, he is able to start school on the right note, making friends with other attractive adolescents. The commercial closes with him saying, “keep America beautiful,” as Oxy’s line of skin care products shows up on the screen. For some reason, this ad and its message stuck with me, and I have loyally used Oxy products ever since.

While extremely effective, this ad was hardly original in its methods. Instead, it relied on the same techniques perfected nearly a century earlier during the revolution in American advertising. As early as 1923, the Lambert Pharmaceutical Company was ...

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...success of each of these campaigns though, there is little wonder as to why advertising has changed so little. As long American ethos embodies the notion that physical appearance, and financial and social success are directly correlated, advertisers will continue to create demand for products that alleviate physical and hygienic ailments by simply manipulating the public’s fear of them.

Works Cited

http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/dynaweb/adaccess/beauty/hairprep1940s/@Generic

__BookTextView/.

Marchand, Roland. Advertising the American Dream. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.

Schudson, Michael. Advertising, The Uneasy Persuasion. United States of America: Basic Books, 1986.

Special thanks to John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising, and Marketing History, and Duke University’s Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collection Library.

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