After hearing of all the rage the Old Spice man seemed to be getting among my peers, (within reason for his advertisement is quite captivating) I have decided to shift gears and take different approach to this topic. Allow me to present Rachelle Woods.
Along the same lines humor-wise as the Old Spice man, no? She bluntly states my exact reason for choosing her, "You can relate to me because I'm racially ambiguous and market research shows that girls like you, love girls like me".
To list out all the appealing features she possesses would be a bit redundant for she clearly points them out to lightly mock the techniques tampon companies use to appeal to their audience i.e. "dynamic" camera angles to keep a viewer engaged, laughing and dancing to communicate sheer bliss of having this certain brand of tampon, white pants, perfect teeth and skin, etc. This humor seems to be catching on in the advertising community for one simple reason: it works. To mock the subliminal messaging advertisers use by acknowledging the viewer's awareness of their tactics alongside a comical exaggeration is humorous in that they are showing the viewers that companies are trying to influence them with sneaky little details that in reality, make nearly nonsensical reasons to buy their product. For example, Rachelle wearing white pants and has great hair will make viewers want her tampons.
The utilization of Rachelle's racial ambiguity as a marketing tactic to appeal to girls of all races provides an interesting contrast to the advertisements of brands from decades past, which we will investigate in the next blog. But for now, this spokesperson is presented as a youthful young woman, vibrant, exotic and loving the life she lives -- all because of the tampons she uses. As most girls know, receiving Mother Nature's "gift" once a month is enough for a girl to feel under the weather, to say the least. Yet Rachelle communicates a liveliness paired with flawless good looks as if to say (and actually saying it in the commercial), "buy what I use because you want to be just like me!" So my question is: would you buy her tampons?
I would most definitely! Hahaha. But no, I appreciate your change in subject topic. The first time I saw this ad I was like, "Wow is this real, or is it a subliminal message?" I see now that it is indeed an attack on advertisers. Your post emphasized the fact that although we see bogus and desperate selling tactics utilized by advertisers, we still fall victim to their trap. Good job!
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