Beauty Pressure

Word Count: 401

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1.      Argument:  Young girls need to be taught about inner beauty because the beauty industry has an unhealthy image of what is beautiful that will negatively affect young girls’ self-esteem.

2.      Audience:  The audience is primarily mothers of daughters, but I think that it is also directed to women in general, who are concerned about the rising generation.

3.      Goal: To build the Dove brand’s reputation by getting viewers to recognize that Dove values self esteem and inner beauty.  Also to promote their “Real Beauty” campaign and get the viewer to visit their website.

4.      How:

-          Logos:  The flow of the argument was very logical and many women can see it in their own lives.  It shows the progression from a little girl to her exposure to the idea of beauty in the media, to all the products and unhealthy habits to help her achieve and maintain that image.  Also, by using real commercials and advertisements, the audience can see clearly that the argument is a valid concern.

-          Pathos:  The shot of the little girl in the beginning gives a feeling of innocence.  The “onslaught” of beauty industry images and clips coupled with the intense music feel overwhelming and familiar to women.  The plastic surgery images and sounds are graphic and disgusting. It then suddenly goes back to some innocent little girls slowly crossing the street as the music mellows out a bit, bringing the viewer back to the original innocence of little girls.  This makes women want to protect the little girls from the repulsiveness that was just presented.

-          Sufficient:  The sheer number of printed ads and video commercial clips included in the montage were sufficient to prove their point. 

-          Accurate:  By using actual advertisements found in the beauty industry, they stayed very accurate to what people are truly exposed to every day in the media. 

5.      Effective or not:  I think the ad is fairly effective.  It definitely grabs the attention of women, and especially mothers.  Women have been bombarded by the media all their lives and can definitely relate to the pressures presented in the ad.  I think that it makes women want to protect the rising generation from the terrible things in the media and they will have more respect for the Dove name because they are interested in this too.  I don’t know how many women will actually visit Dove’s website though.