L’Oréal Paris Concealer Ad

Megan Wright

VISA1500_01

I found the advertisement for my analysis in the makeup section at Superstore. The creator of this ad was L’Oréal Paris. This ad is promoting L’Oréal’s new “Infallible Full Wear Concealer”. This ad uses a very attractive model to showcase the benefits of using the concealer that is being advertised.

On the right of this ad, there is a short description of the product in both English and French. In the middle, there is a close-up photo of an eye with the concealer placed underneath the eye. The skin around the eye is virtually flawless, with no visible pores, blemishes, or discolouration. This makes it very visually appealing according to modern day beauty standards, as nearly everyone seeks perfect skin. On the far left, the ad shows a young, attractive model with a near-perfect complexion. The quality of the photo they use is very clear and the model looks airbrushed but not unnatural. She doesn’t appear to have heavy makeup on, which furthers their point of the concealer having high coverage with a natural finish. The model’s expression is confident, and even slightly seductive. Her demeanor demonstrates that she knows exactly how good she looks. The ad is using this photo of the model to convince the audience what they could look like if they purchased the concealer.

This ad is trying to show that you can have flawless skin if you use this particular brand of concealer. In addition, the model they use in the photo is a famous celebrity. By using someone who is famous, successful, and beautiful, the ad is saying that you can have that too by using their product. The ad is very organised in its layout and it uses a bright white for the background, combined with a bright light to illuminate the ad. The light colour makes it look very clean and appealing.

The target audience is predominantly women. Society dictates that women must be pretty in order to be worth something. The ad is effective in getting the message out to the target group, as it shows what most women aspire to look like. It uses convincing means, such as the model’s youth, beauty, and fame to appeal to the audience. The effect this image has on me is similar to the effect it has on the target audience. It shows unrealistic beauty standards and enough ads like this would make me question if my own appearance is good enough.

I recognize this company’s brand, and I have purchased several of their products before. The company L’Oréal has been critiqued by PETA, who said that L’Oréal’s practices aren’t 100% ethical. Although L’Oréal doesn’t practice animal testing themselves, they still sell certain products to China, which is required by law to test certain products on animals. Another article about L’Oréal states that they will be implementing a 10-year sustainability plan that will be complete by 2030. L’Oréal plans to cut their carbon emission per finished product unit by 50% by 2030. L’Oréal has often been one of the first companies to change their policies before boycotts against them have a chance to even happen.

“L’Oréal Is Included on PETA’s ‘Do Test’ List. What Does That Mean?” PETA, 16 May 2017, www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/is-loreal-cruelty-free/.

Sandler, Emma. “L’Oréal Group Announces 10-Year Sustainability Plan.” Glossy, 26 June 2020, www.glossy.co/beauty/loreal-group-announces-10-year-sustainability-plan/.