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In the world of exaggerated advertising claims, Clinique’s advertisement for a night cream known as “Youth Surge Night: Age Decelerating Night Moisturizer” borders on the outrageous (Fashion 8). Careful analysis of advertisements that claim to reverse the effects of aging allows a consumer to develop awareness of her own self-limiting beliefs and prejudices. The purpose of this analysis is to highlight the fear and ageism, particularly in women under the age of 30, which advertisers manipulate to market and sell products.
The two-page advertisement appears within the front section of the March issue of the magazine Fashion, between two advertisements for high-end apparel. A general analysis of the content of the ads found in Fashion gives us a fairly accurate portrait of its readership. The ads suggest that this publication targets Caucasian, urban women under the age of 30. Fashion readers will likely be educated: most will boast a college education or better. Socio-economically speaking Fashion readers tend to be professional and middle-class.
Most significantly, Fashion appeals to family-oriented heterosexual women in their prime childbearing years, therefore, most if not all will have babies on their minds. Women in this stage of life probably fall into two camps: those that are single seek to attract a male partner in order to procreate and establish the bonds of family.
Those that are in relationships ask themselves if their current partner is the right man for the long term. It is a fragile time of life for many women, especially career women, since they balance maternity needs and career advancement during these years.
The season in which this advertisement appears also bears note. March represents the transition between winter and spring, a time when women generally turn their attention towards spring fashion, and by extension, body image. At this time of year, female consumers may feel slightly vulnerable; perhaps they have gained a bit of weight over the winter. Spring also represents another year of aging; it is another indication of time moving forward. Why is this significant? Advertisers understand the fear that women hold around the loss of youth.
For women, historically speaking as well as in our time, youth and its attendant beauty and vitality has been the main power bargaining tool available for women in the market for a husband and parenting partner. For women pondering motherhood, attracting and holding a male becomes paramount, and most women believe that their looks attract and hold men’s interest above all other qualities. Clinique sells youth to those who fear losing theirs the most.
Clinique’s “Youth Surge Night: Age Decelerating Night Moisturizer” contains two large images: a photo of a delicate and perfect pink flower, with healthy green leaves, frozen into a block of ice, and the product. The frozen flower rests on top of the product. Significantly, on the lower right corner of the ice cube, a single drop of water beads. The ice melts. The visual style is horizontally aligned and weighted disproportionately left: 50 percent of the ad is image – the entire left hand page – and the right 50 percent of the ad is entirely text.
From a layout perspective, the advertisement’s focal point is the flower. The eye moves clockwise from the flower, to the large text, to the product. Aside from the rosy pink hue that exudes from the flower, the advertisement is completely devoid of color. The lines are continuous, straight, and hard-edged, and the predominant shape is square.
The block of ice is a square, as is the product. Special depth and shadow enhancing digital effects show on the block of ice and the metal lid of the product and create a three-dimensional effect in both. Negative space dominates the ad: 50 percent of the right hand page remains white. The large weight of the image, the product, and the white space render the advertisement with a heavy volume that gives the visual impression of cleanliness, solidity, and credibility. The image itself signifies the stoppage of time alluded to in the text.
The text reads: “Age suspended and time interrupted. Clinique’s new youth-extending science visibly helps defeat lines and wrinkles” (Fashion 8). The word science or scientists repeats three times; the word technology appears once. Why does this matter? Advertisers understand that consumers tend to give more credibility to claims made by science as opposed to those made by advertisers.
The advertisement, therefore, exudes confident, faux-scientific language, such as “Sirtuin technology” and “patent-pending science,” and the claim imbedded in the text comes across through language such as “the answer” (Fashion 8). The font bears particular analysis, as it is large, sans serif, “non nonsense” font that, when coupled with the repetitive use of the word science, underscores the perceived validity of the product’s claim. The most important words in the text appear in the last segment of text: “You look younger, longer” (Fashion 8).
“You look younger, longer,” the message delivered by Clinique to the readers of Fashion, takes advantage of the nervousness and angst felt by women under the age of 30. This message hits home because the target market, at this age, grapples with decisions about husbands and family. Fashion readers want to hold on to their youth until they have secured the best mate, and youth and beauty are their primary means of attracting a mate.
The underlying assumptions, detrimental to women of any age, but especially young women, persist in ageist, sexist rhetoric which views women entirely through the physical lens. This advertisement perpetuates the stereotype that women only have value when they are young and beautiful.
Works Cited
“Clinique Youth Surge Night: Age Suspended and Time Interrupted.” Fashion 2010: 7-8. Print.
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