ENGL 103.G35
Cultural Analysis

Cover Girl has always been a popular make-up company, and since they sell make-up, their main target is undoubtedly woman. In the new Cover Girl Nature Luxe commercial, they target women, especially in their teens, in multiple ways. They use a celebrity that is popular for that age group; she is wearing glamorous, sparkly dresses, she’s dancing nonstop and having fun, and they try to make the audience “join the movement.”

Figure 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4 Figure 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4 The advertisement starts out right away with the popular music artist Taylor Swift as the only person in the entire commercial. The company makes a big emphasis on this and even puts her name in the commercial underneath the company name, seen in Figure 1, as if to highlight the fact that she’s in the commercial and wearing their product, even though it’s very clear who it is to the majority of the population. Cover Girl chose Taylor Swift to be the star of their commercial for a few reasons. They are targeting teenage girls, and Taylor is in that age range herself. She’s also extremely successful in her career and is an attractive young woman that a lot of girls wish they could look like or just be. By using Taylor Swift when she has all these qualities, it sends out a message to the watchers that if you use their product, you’ll be able to be like Taylor Swift.

Figure 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4 Figure 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4 Another way this commercial really targets women is not only by having a celebrity in it, but by having that celebrity dress in glamorous clothes. In Figure 2 and Figure 3 one can see the two outfits Taylor wore throughout the entire commercial. This is a make-up commercial, so it doesn’t really seem like the outfits should matter. But Cover Girl seemed to make the outfits a big deal, highlighting them by doing multiple full body shots throughout the entire commercial. These outfits are over the top too, with sequins covering the entirety of both dresses. Sequins and sparkles are very popular for teenage girls today and tend to draw their attention very easily. If nothing else had drawn in the target audience of young woman to this commercial, the outfits would do the trick. A girl could not even be giving the television a second look but the minute a dress like that comes on they are focused on it. Cover Girl does it again where they give out the message that their product is going to make you look as amazing as you would in a dress this glamorous.

Aside from the celebrity status and eye catching outfits, Cover Girl decided to put a little personality into their commercial. Throughout the entire advertisement Swift was dancing or posing and showing off her fun personality. Even though this is a makeup commercial, and with Taylor dancing it usually covers up what the makeup actually looks like on her, it was a useful technique to give a good energy and vibe to the commercial. While Taylor is in very high fashion outfits and looks almost untouchable because she seems so flawless, the dancing shows that she can be beautiful and have a fun time and show her personality wherever she goes. This targets the audience of teenage girls again because the commercial portrays Taylor as down to earth and relatable because she was just having fun. While girls want to be beautiful in their makeup, they also want to be approachable and not lose their personality behind their looks. By having Taylor do poses to show off her beauty and the makeup Figure 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4 Figure 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4 she’s wearing, but then dancing and having fun two seconds later, like in Figure 3, it sends the message that one can be beautiful and fun which is just extremely desirable by a good amount of girls in the targeted age group.

The last way that Cover Girl targeted teenage girls is how they explained the product. The first lines of the commercial are “Cover Girl introduces the next generation of beautiful.” This really gets to teenage girls because they are the next generation. The line gives off the idea that this is a product of the future, it’s the next generation, and everyone who buys it would be ahead of the game. The next line is Taylor Swift saying “What’s next? You!” This line singles one out, making them think that this commercial was made specifically for them. It also seems like Swift is talking directly to each audience member. She then proceeds to talk about the product and how the product is light but still makes you more beautiful. Later in the commercial she says, “Join the beauty movement to help all of us rock the Cover Girls we are.” They also emphasize joining the movement by having that sentence appear on the screen as well, seen in Figure 4. This not only compliments all of the viewers and the targeted audience by saying that they are a Cover Girl, but it also makes them feel like they need to join this ‘movement’ to make sure everyone is beautiful. So this sends out the message that if one buys this product, they’re not only helping themselves but they’re helping everyone else in the world who also joined this ‘movement.’ She then states that one can get samples and rewards, which targets the teenage girl audience very much because, though they may or may not be working, they probably don’t have a lot of money to spend on makeup. So samples and rewards, while it would probably get Figure 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4 Figure 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMt6TFO0zn4 anybody’s attention, would get a teenagers attention the most in this case because they can get makeup without having to pay for it. Swift also says in the commercial to “get involved.” She never specifies what one is supposed to get involved in, but just to join the Facebook group for Cover Girl. This not only makes teenagers feel like they’re doing something important by joining this Facebook group, but it gives Cover Girl more publicity to the younger audience because Facebook is such a popular network with teenagers. At the very end Swift says “The next generation of easy, breezy, beautiful is you.” This again makes the audience think that this is a product of the future, and that if they want to be beautiful for the future they need to buy this product. Teenage girls will want to be the future of beautiful, so they will go and buy it. In this commercial, Cover Girl rarely emphasizes anything about the actual product and one tends to forget that it’s a commercial about lipstick. But with having a celebrity like Taylor Swift in the advertisement, wearing over the top outfits, dancing and having fun while still looking beautiful, and using a good dialogue, the company does a tremendous job at catching the attention of their target audience of teenage girls.