Rhetorical Analysis of the COVERGIRL #GirlsCan Commercial
Introduction
How many times have women been told that they cannot be successful? Multiple women from various upbringings can answer that question and say an abundance of times. This is the main topic of the COVERGIRL #GirlsCan commercial, and that is part of what makes the commercial so relatable. As seen in Figure 1, the commercial opens with Ellen DeGeneres saying the phrase “girls can’t”. The commercial then discusses how women sometimes hear, but oftentimes feel as if they cannot do something. The commercial then flips the phrase to “girls can”, which is the main message of the ad. COVERGIRL then has many successful women explain how they were told they couldn’t do something, …show more content…
This in turn makes them believe that the product will make them feel the same way. According to Berns, Barton, and Kerby, “Currently women account for 47 percent of the labor force… This is a major increase from 1950, when women represented just 29.6 percent of the workforce” (Berns, Barton, & Kerby, 2012, Women, para. 1). Due to the changing of their target demographics women make up a large part of the workforce today, and by producing an ad telling them that they can succeed the majority of women will feel that COVERGIRL supports them. This commercial actually targets one of Jib Fowles’ advertising appeals which is the need to achieve (Fowles, n.d.). The amount of women in the workforce is growing, and as time passes women are accomplishing more and more. COVERGIRL knows this, and so they use the message of empowerment to make their target audience feel more supported, thus fueling the viewer’s need to achieve. The verbal as well as nonverbal language in the commercial supports this. The slogan of the ad is “girls can” and there are women actors flexing their muscles and wearing hockey gear. This all supports the fact that COVERGIRL wanted their target audience of women to feel strong, thus having them feel as if the COVERGIRL brand promotes and supports successful
Introduction
How many times have women been told that they cannot be successful? Multiple women from various upbringings can answer that question and say an abundance of times. This is the main topic of the COVERGIRL #GirlsCan commercial, and that is part of what makes the commercial so relatable. As seen in Figure 1, the commercial opens with Ellen DeGeneres saying the phrase “girls can’t”. The commercial then discusses how women sometimes hear, but oftentimes feel as if they cannot do something. The commercial then flips the phrase to “girls can”, which is the main message of the ad. COVERGIRL then has many successful women explain how they were told they couldn’t do something, …show more content…
This in turn makes them believe that the product will make them feel the same way. According to Berns, Barton, and Kerby, “Currently women account for 47 percent of the labor force… This is a major increase from 1950, when women represented just 29.6 percent of the workforce” (Berns, Barton, & Kerby, 2012, Women, para. 1). Due to the changing of their target demographics women make up a large part of the workforce today, and by producing an ad telling them that they can succeed the majority of women will feel that COVERGIRL supports them. This commercial actually targets one of Jib Fowles’ advertising appeals which is the need to achieve (Fowles, n.d.). The amount of women in the workforce is growing, and as time passes women are accomplishing more and more. COVERGIRL knows this, and so they use the message of empowerment to make their target audience feel more supported, thus fueling the viewer’s need to achieve. The verbal as well as nonverbal language in the commercial supports this. The slogan of the ad is “girls can” and there are women actors flexing their muscles and wearing hockey gear. This all supports the fact that COVERGIRL wanted their target audience of women to feel strong, thus having them feel as if the COVERGIRL brand promotes and supports successful