A Rhetorical Analysis Of Beauty Advertisements

Imagine Michael Jordan walking down a busy street wearing a new pair of Nike shoes, holding a Pepsi in his left hand. He is grasping an Iphone 7 in his right hand, jamming out to some tunes with Sony headphones enveloping his ears. Citizens along the road acknowledge his existence, noticing how “cool” he seems with his “cool” items, heeding the name brands that Michael Jordan seemingly supports. Celebrities are popular, therefore what they advertise is simply and utterly awesome, right? Perhaps...However, this is a type of propaganda that companies use to promote their products. Too easily, consumers follow the examples of popular celebrities as they feel more comfortable purchasing something that someone well known is promoting. Donna Woolfolk
In Figure 1 Selena is seen striking a pose with one hand on her hip, wearing an elegant white dress contrasting to her glossy black hair which seems to be flawlessly computerized. She seems confident, happy, and proud to be a supporter of Pantene. The saying “Strong is Taking the Heat” is seen on the advertisement, representing that their product will make hair protected and strong against heat. The results of that promise will then supposedly look similar to Selena’s flowing black waves which are encircling her perfectly contoured face. Since the audience of this product is primarily for women, Selena Gomez is a good choice for promoting strong hair because she is a confident celebrity who has been known to sing about beauty before. Some women know and recognize her as someone that they want to become like, therefore they don’t even question the true quality of the product because all they can think about is how “cool” Selena Gomez is. The purpose of this ad is to attract attention to the famous Selena Gomez and to persuade women that they can be beautiful and strong just like her if they use