Manipulation through beauty advertising

Have you ever looked at an ad in a magazine and thought, "I have to have that," because
a. "It would make my life better"
b. "It would make me more popular"
c. "It would make me more appealing"
If so, you are most likely a victim of advertisers many strategies to manipulate the minds of women all around the world. But don't feel bad, you aren't alone in this. It happens to everyone.
But we can't always just blame the big companies, after all they are just doing their best to sell their products and make money like everyone else. The ones who do this the best will sell the most and generate the most revenue.
This week in class I did an analysis of a beauty advertisement for EOS that I found in a Teen Vogue magazine. This was an interesting project and it really got me thinking about ads in general and I had some fun looking at others I found on the internet.
Despite the cool effects you an achieve on software applications like photo shop, you still need an ad that will stick in some one's head if you want it to sell. Some of these ads do just that.


I love this McDonald's ad because its able to get its selling point across without even using and text. Its clever and cleanly done. The idea of Mc Donald's being healthy these days is almost comical, but this ad shows how they almost manipulate you into seeing french fries as healthy.


Tackling women's sport in advertising can be tricky. If you over-feminise, it can be borderline disrespectful, but if you don't experiment enough, it could mean a lousy campaign. Thankfully, MasterCard have mastered the subject (no pun intended) with this clever and cute ad for the Women's golf tournament.

The art of manipulation through all types of advertising continues to grow and change each year, it will be interesting to see what clever ad creators will come up with in years to come.

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