Advertising floods the airwaves of our culture. With another corporate sponsor at every turn, we cannot help but be influenced by the messages of a constantly streaming commercials. Advertisement in American culture is a time old practice, we seldom see a positive message in regards to aging. Dove Pro-Age breaks the barriers of a culture that seemingly despises aging, and especially the aging of women. By boasting unconventional models not only of varying body types, but women who are significantly older than the typical model we have grown accustomed to, Dove calls for an attitude change in our society when it comes to aging. In a market that is flooded with products meant to erase …show more content…
In the print ad for Genifique the main focus visually is not the face of a model we’re supposed to believe uses the serum, but instead a clear bottle and pasture pipette with bold writing reading “The gift of youth” across the bottle. With statements like “breathtakingly radiant” and “powerful skin results within 7 days” emboldened Lancôme draws the attention to the products best-selling points and effectively diminishes the visibility of product information that is deemed as less important. The blue background and white rose suggest simplicity, beauty, and stability potentially influencing consumers of this product to have faith in the possible results. The color scheme of Lancôme’s ad for Genifique contrast greatly with that of dove’s pro-age, which boasts neutral shades of beige and browns suggesting a more natural product. Lancôme’s claim is that this product will replenish the natural oils that are present on our faces when we are young but have diminished over time. There are countless ads similar to this that most of which claim to have similar properties and combat against aging. Almost all of these ads are exclusively geared toward women and stress an importance of …show more content…
Although we are still riddled with more advertisements pressing anti-aging than those that choose to embrace aging, there have also been some pretty significant campaigns that are in line with the same message of Dove’s Pro-age. For example, American Apparel made headlines after featuring Jacky O’Shaughnessy, a 62 year old model, in one of their lingerie campaigns with the tagline “Sexy has no expiration date.” Soon after the release the campaign went viral with overwhelmingly positive feedback and support. There have been numerous actresses and media personalities who have spoken out against the ageism and sexism of the media in recent years. As our society grows increasingly progressive and socially aware we have become less accepting of discriminatory behavior and many openly embrace the inclusion of diversity in age. We have progressed as a society, yet we are not finished. It is important that we continue to demand change and eliminate the stigma of age. It is not necessary to eliminate the current concept of beauty entirely but instead to broaden our beauty ideals with the inclusion of more diversity, and to embrace aging as a privilege rather than an unfortunate