What The Hail?

For my advertisement, I decided to choose one from the biggest skin care company that has been in the media for the last few years. Neutrogena is a company that gears their advertisements towards young women, by using our favourite stars to promote the company’s products. In the advertisement I chose, Vanessa Hudgens was the current Covergirl. The product she is using is the new Neutrogena Wave which claims to clean your pores deeper and result in softer skin.

 In the text, interpellation is described as “a process in which we internalise ideologies as a response to being hailed or addressed” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 2012, pg. 185). This advertisement uses many strategies to hail women and teens. At the time this advertisement was released, Vanessa Hudgens was staring in the movie High School Musical and was in the media constantly. Many young girls looked up to her and wanted to be just like her. This advertisement is targeted at my demographic because all teenagers get acne. It is a normal occurrence and it can relate to every individual who suffers with acne. Vanessa Hudgens is shown in the commercial using the product and she expresses that “my skin is softer right away, even my friends noticed”. Many girls are insecure about themselves in one way or another. In the text, it explains that “our identities (our concept of who we are) are, like language and ideologies, constructed” (O’Shaughnessy, Stadler, 2012, pg. 184). If young adults buy this product, they might not care if it does what the advertisement entails or not. They will be thinking about the fact that their favourite celebrity uses the same product and that the people around them will notice the different immediately.

I believe that this advertisement is successful in its attempt to represent the norms of everyday life. It is normal for teens to get acne along with skin care problems and it seems to be something many individuals are ashamed off. They feel embarrassed and that everyone is looking at that feature. By Vanessa Hudgens representing this product, it may take some of the embarrassment away from the individuals because they feel confident by seeing their favourite star use the same product and look flawless.

O'Shaugnessy, M., & Stadler, J. (2012). Media and Society (Fifth ed., pp. 184-185). South Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.