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COSMETICS BRANDING: ADVERTISEMENTS AND BEAUTY PURSUIT

Article · October 2019

DOI: 10.5040/9781847888525.EDch031719

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COSMETICS BRANDING: ADVERTISEMENTS AND BEAUTY PURSUIT

Iva Jestratijevic and Nancy Ann Rudd

DOI: 10.5040/9781847888525.EDch031719
September 2019

Abstract

This research examines how cosmetics branding draws attention to physical appearance deficiencies and problematizes different physiological bodily states or personal perceptions of
unattractiveness, while having a persuasive influence on individual impetus to transform personal appearance. The phenomenon of extensive appearance transformation fits ideally into a broader
cultural reality where all desired physical characteristics are marketed for sale. Despite the frivolity of the marketing language, cosmetics advertisements are particularly appealing to vulnerable
consumers, who may be persuaded to transform into “fantasies” that come with no risk, and no pain. While transitioning to a world where all bodies and faces matter, this study represents a call for
cosmetics marketers to ameliorate advertising tactics into inclusive and socially responsible appeals.

So you’re bored to death with the same old you? A new lipstick will really not work to achieve a sudden transformation, but have you considered going further? Perhaps even to the
point of changing everything … changing your type?

Through human evolution, people have engaged in a variety of appearance management behaviors to construct, maintain, and enhance an attractive physical appearance. Being and appearing
attractive has enormous cultural value, and it may lead to real-life outcomes (social inclusion, success, higher pay, and so on). Beauty standards are somewhat different among women and men, and
they vary across cultures.

However, research has indicated that height, certain body features (breast, chest, arms), and certain facial features (eyes, face) are concerns among ethnic groups when they signal distinctness from
universally accepted standards of attractiveness in the majority culture. Such indication proves that despite possible variations in aesthetic preferences, certain aesthetic norms are hegemonic, and
culturally bounded. They are subtly integrated in the public discourse, simultaneously spread through various mediums, strengthened through mass communications channels, and supported via
branding, advertisement, the modeling industry, popular toys (Barbie, Bratz) and clothing sizing (0, 00, 000, and “plus” sizes). As norms endlessly circulate in the culture, they appear as a part of
common knowledge, and people become increasingly aware of prescribed and desirable physical characteristics. Hence, having a specific type of beauty and/or size and body shape as a norm is
validated through group consensus, and internalized on an individual level.

Aesthetic norms have a pervasive influence on self-esteem, body satisfaction, and perceived attractiveness. Research suggests that appearance characteristics that are distinctive in comparison to
others (and which we perceive through media images) are centrally featured in thoughts regarding the self. Thus, representation of others serves as a basis of automatic comparisons even when
they appear in idealized and unrealistic form. With no surprise, such comparisons have tremendously negative effects on body image and personal well-being, and this is proven to be consistent in
both female and male genders.

Female Consumers, Cosmetics, and Beauty Pursuit

To enhance appearance, transform their looks, and thereby increase feelings of self-esteem, people use cosmetics and engage in various appearance management behaviors related to grooming.
The use of cosmetics, fragrances, and personal care products can be traced back to the Ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman eras. Makeup, tattoos, perfumes, and adornments were made from
variety of ingredients found in nature. Clay, mud, and arsenic were used to color the face, bones were used to curl the hair, while painting the body and hair with henna was cross-culturally spread.
More extreme bodily modifications were also universally common as people pierced, tattooed, suppressed, and bent body parts to achieve cultural ideals (for example the “golden lotus” feet of
Chinese women, the long neck of Padaung women in Myanmar, and the Victorian corseted waist).

In the modern era, with increased growth of consumer culture, marketing tactics were used as tools to distinguish the plethora of cosmetics offerings. Beauty marketing indirectly reflected cultural
expectations that women should make financial, mental, and physical investments to achieve and maintain a beautiful appearance. Consequently, cosmetics were branded and displayed as a
“constitutive element of femininity” required for female appearance self-realization. To secure product and service consumption, cosmetics brands increasingly promoted normative beauty standards
by drawing special attention to deficiencies in physical appearance. Such marketing tactics influenced female consumers to experience a personal inadequacy in beauty and/or body, a deficit that
could be remedied or improved through greater cosmetics consumption. As facial attractiveness was very important for the modern woman, makeup was identified as a primary means by which she
could create improved looks, generate confidence, and enhance self-esteem. Makeup brands used adjectives to exaggerate the desired look: voluminous eyelashes, moisturizing lip color, and
natural-looking face powder, instilling the notion that women are somehow inherently flawed without beauty-enhancing products.

Facial attractiveness invaded the marketing scene early on; later, body attractiveness was particularly important in cosmetics advertising, and during the 1960s there was a significant move toward
slimness. The British fashion model Twiggy, who had a boyish figure, flat chest, and tight hips, became the role model for young women. Not surprisingly, in Western societies women increasingly
began dieting to get back their preadolescent body shape. In the following decades, thinness became a consistent ideal, portrayed by taller and slimmer models in popular magazines such as Vogue
and even Playboy.

To investigate how women perceive body representations in beauty advertisements, various studies have been conducted. These found that the greatest exposure to idealized media images was
correlated with high levels of body dissatisfaction; this was mediated by social comparison processes, but was still consistent among different age categories. Interview-based studies brought up
additional evidence that even when there was a high discrepancy between advertised bodies and the bodies of real women, women expressed a strong desire to obtain an unrealistic body
appearance. For example, when looking at models’ bodies as displayed in beauty products campaigns, one interview participant reported: “They make me sick, they look too thin. But I would kill for
one of their bodies.” Despite the fact that body insecurity was highly affecting individuals’ well-being, such negative body attitudes secured a rapid growth in the sale of cosmetics, diet pills, and body-
firming creams to women who felt unattractive, “fat,” and insecure.

Male Consumers, Cosmetics, and Beauty Pursuit

In the early 1980s, cosmetics companies realized that there was a huge untapped market and wanted to find a way to persuade men to use their products and services. Before men’s health, beauty,
and fitness magazines (such as Men’s Health, New Look, or Mr. Magazine) appeared on the market, women’s magazines such as Marie Claire started featuring advertisements for men’s cosmetics
and often included body-revealing pictures. Cosmetics brands appearing on the market suggested that women expected men to take care of their appearance, and it was estimated that the majority
of cosmetics for men (80 percent) were initially bought by female companions. Naked or semi-naked male bodies started becoming more common in popular media, and a slender and moderately
muscular shape was accepted as a cultural norm for male attractiveness. As research argues, the importance of physical appearance to metrosexual men (heterosexual men meticulous about their
appearance) and the social liberalization of homosexuality helped cosmetics companies to surpass previously established consumption barriers. Men began accepting and representing their bodies
as personal adornments, and, consequently, investment in the body became more important. This led to increased consumption of skincare products and services such as depilation and epilation of
body hair, and facial and spa treatments.

With the rapid growth of the male cosmetics market, market segmentation was clearly visible in cosmetics branding, as different male personas were simultaneously created through advertisements.
Some brands overtly promoted the beautiful, sophisticated dandy who had a seductive relationship with himself and others. Such men, when appearing in Lancôme or Jean Paul Gaultier skincare
adverts, were often portrayed in designed interiors (such as a bathroom) and appeared semi-naked, muscular, and well groomed, with no facial or body hair. Other, more stereotypical masculine
ideals were used to promote simple and natural cosmetics products. For example, Nivea for Men adverts used ideals of male social identity: models appeared as a good husband (often presented
with his wife), or a successful professional (wearing a suit and a business bag) with masculine appearance codes, carefully styled hair, well-shaved face, and beautiful skin.

Such advertising featured a universal idealized appearance. Male models with low body fat, a slim waist, and well-developed muscles on the chest, arms, and shoulders became the visible norm in
cosmetics advertising. In a similar fashion to the way women had been targeted by cosmetics brands, adverts began drawing special attention to deficiencies in physical appearance, persuading men
to transform and slim down (with slogans such as: “ ‘Slimmed down’: the fit male is what everyone’s after”) but stay muscular. Studies on male body image began to emerge, with participants
increasingly reporting the importance of fitness and health for body satisfaction. Prior to the late twentieth century, dieting was frequently associated with female behavior, but surveys commissioned
by Men’s Health magazine revealed that six of out of ten men reported dieting to lose weight. Men expressed the feeling that they were under greater pressure from movies, television
advertisements, and popular brands to look flawless. There was a noticeable correlation between media images and body dissatisfaction, and men increasingly started consuming diet pills and
steroids, frequently advertised as “muscles from a bottle.”

Cosmetics Advertisements in Contemporary Consumer Culture

The use of cosmetics products has escalated in contemporary consumer culture, where marketing languages have a persuasive influence on the human impetus to transform. In 2016, the United
States was considered the most valuable beauty market in the world, generating approximately 84 billion dollars per year. The global cosmetics market is expected to garner around 430 billion dollars
by 2022, securing 4.3 percent growth in all product categories (skin, hair, body, and nail products, fragrances, deodorants, and makeup). The consumption-driven market logic is reflected in relational
interdependence, where cosmetics companies are selling desired products and services that further enable consumers’ transformation and self-improvement. Thus, a market model of transformation
appears to be a mutually beneficial relationship, where one party satisfies the needs of the other party. Consumers are encouraged to turn to the market, browse through beauty galleries, select
desired beauty products, and accomplish their look through grooming and consumption. This is a perfect example of the way that consumers are perceived to have a certain kind of agency and the
individual freedom to cocreate and construct their own beauty while consuming products that the cosmetics industry has created to secure industry growth.

Furthermore, transformation through the consumption of cosmetics is both routine and accessible. Rather than being a constant, the material self, body, and beauty are seen as objects that can be
endlessly transformed. As physical transformation is normalized, the face can be described as a mask and the body as an object, and there is an obvious and accentuated distance between the
present self that currently exists, and the future self that the person wants to become. Such distance is overused as a branding tactic by products that promise “before and after” transformation.
These supposedly successful appearance transformations are supported with shots of participants and their testimonials.

Appearance transformation and the commodification of the human body have become excessively normalized in the beauty media. In 1972, Cosmopolitan magazine suggested that if you were bored
to death with the same old you, you had the ability to construct a whole new identity. As a matter of a fact, the magazine challenged women to do more for themselves instead of just trying a new
lipstick color. Greater consumer transfer from cosmetics products to cosmetics services did not happen accidently. With evident oversaturation of the cosmetics product market, cosmetics services
appeared as new, equally important grooming practices, important as part of a self-maintenance routine. Unlike cosmetics products that had limited transformational power, cosmetic procedures were
seen as safe and represented the possibility of achieving one’s unique beauty ideal on a permanent basis. Even though “cosmetic surgery” includes both surgical (breast augmentation, liposuction,
tummy tuck, eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty) and nonsurgical procedures (dermal fillers, botulinum toxin, microdermabrasion), those services are carefully distinguished in the media from other, more
invasive physical transformations (partial or total body reconstruction). While plastic and reconstructive surgery is described as a solution that can heal, and fix pathologies, cosmetic surgery
appeared as a “noninvasive” way of altering physically healthy bodies for aesthetic purposes. In other words, they are different, as plastic and reconstructive surgery provides services to patients,
while cosmetic surgery provides services to consumers.

Beauty Pursuit in Cosmetic Surgery Advertisements

Cosmetic surgery providers routinize their services through the marketing communication. Hence, advertisements exploit the popularity of the service (“Millions of satisfied consumers have chosen …
”) in order to reduce the perceived risk of the treatment. Ritualization of the service is furthermore achieved through descriptions of cosmetic surgery as quick (routine), safe (innovative—no pain),
and effective (success in percentages). Frequently, such advertisements even go a step further by defining an available financial source: “Now that your 2015 taxes are filed and behind you, were
you fortunate enough to get a refund? If it just so happens that the government will be returning some of your hard-earned cash, what will you be using it for? Electronic gadgets, an island vacation, a
shopping spree … or plastic surgery?”

Despite the frivolity of the marketing language, cosmetic surgery advertisements are particularly appealing to vulnerable consumers. Promotional messages emphasize aesthetic deficits and
problematize the normal physiological body—for example aging, the most universal human physiological phenomenon. In anti-aging campaigns, even natural facial gestures such as smiling are
displayed as threats—it is suggested that excessive smiling fosters wrinkling in the eye, nose, and mouth area. This is supported through anti-aging testimonials such as: “I smile a lot and noticed
smile lines coming through.” To mitigate naturally occurring wrinkles and create a smoother and “refreshed” facial appearance, a model in a campaign might recommend dermal fillers, for example.

Thus, the distance between the present and future self is especially significant in anti-aging advertisements, which suggest that aging is unpleasant, uncertain, and a fearful experience. “The
woman/man I am now” frequently confronts “the woman/man I fear I could be.” When targeting younger consumers, present–future distance is described as beneficial for the remediation process,
with claims of postponing one’s “natural clock” and preventing the undesired from happening. When targeting older consumers, providers have a different approach. Present–future distance is
exposed as an almost inadequate discrepancy between current and desired appearance, as people look older then they feel. As a solution, external transformations (such as a facelift) are proposed
as effective remedies that harmonize appearance and feelings, bringing intrinsic emotional benefits that enhance personal well-being.

To instill consumer agency, and to support action, advertisements often use words such as: “empower,” “control,” “ensure”; directional phrases: “Defy your age” and “Take control of your body”; and
declarative sentences: “Women know what’s expected: be sure you look great to ensure you go far.” Other natural body states are excessively problematized in cosmetic surgery marketing. For
example, post-pregnancy weight and body shape is commonly conveyed as undesirable, and unwanted. Therefore, body repair for new mothers is popularly branded through campaigns that
celebrate the “mommy makeover,” which often includes liposuction, breast correction (augmentation or reduction), and tummy tuck surgery. While displaying the ideal of toned and shaped female
bodies, campaigns even rhetorically acknowledge an ideal time for change, using phrases such as: “Ready to suit up? Time for makeover” or “Reclaim your beauty.”

For male consumers, hair loss (alopecia) as a consequence of aging or due to hormone imbalance or stress is targeted. Hair replacement or hair restoration is commonly advertised as a procedure
that brings confidence back, implying that hair loss may endanger male strength, dominance, and power. Some branding mobilizes the existing ideological link between identity and physical
appearance for commercial ends. Promotional strategies in the cosmetics industry draw attention to personal aesthetic deficiencies to create opportunities for surgery by problematizing normal bodily
states, promising intangible benefits, and normalizing surgery by positioning it as laboratory act.

Cosmetic surgery marketing draws attention to an existing gap between the ideal and the real body, creating a fairy tale in which consumers may safely transform into anything they desire to be. This
belief is underpinned by popular media. For example, Tatler magazine publishes an annual Beauty and Cosmetic Surgery Guide which celebrates “the newest, niftiest ways to reclaim your face and
your figure,” while television shows such as Extreme Makeover, and Makeover Story glorify the commodification of the human body for aesthetic purposes. Due to the high profitability and extreme
commercialization of cosmetic services, the transformation process is mislabeled as a simple investment process that involves no pain or discomfort. The consumer—the creator—is displayed as a
winner and their new appearance outweighs all under-represented risks associated with the procedure. By blurring boundaries between risky and routine appearance behaviors, cosmetic marketing
consistently triumphs as even surgical transformation is advertised as another cosmetic purchase.

Conclusion
The phenomenon of extensive appearance transformation fits ideally into a broader cultural reality where all desired physical characteristics are marketed for sale. By building body insecurities,
cosmetics advertisements play a central role in influencing consumers’ decisions to elect appearance change. Deceptive marketing communication often promotes unrealistic expectations.
Improvement, and often perfection, is promised through consumption of particular cosmetics industry products and procedures that transform otherwise “unattractive” appearances into “fantasies”
that come with no risk, and no pain.

Beyond consumers spending a lot of money on cosmetic improvements every year, the marketing content of advertisements for services in the cosmetics industry is not without risk of negative
consequences for personal health. By problematizing physiological processes and body states (aging, pregnancy, hair loss, weight, and so on) for commercial gain, cosmetics advertisements
perpetuate discrimination against those who do not meet normative ideals of beauty, causing body preoccupation, anxiety, and stress.

They can also encourage appearance shaming, both in person and via social media. From a safety standpoint, the branding of cosmetic procedures should be assessed by health professionals to
make sure it clearly states the potential risks involved, using medical terminology. This should be a high priority, since the cosmetic and therapeutic terminology used to promote appearance
transformation often does not portray the potential risks involved.

In this new era of body positivity research and literature, body appreciation and mindful self-care represent resilient strategies to overcome advertised appearance inequalities. Encouraging body
love, and not body shame, represents a call for cosmetics companies to market products and procedures in innovative and socially responsible ways. It will be interesting to see how media content
responds and perhaps evolves in a more ethical direction, while transitioning to a world where all bodies and faces are equally valued and respected.

References and Further Reading

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Coleman Rebecca. "“The Becoming of Bodies: Girls, Media Effects, and Body Image”". Feminist Media Studies 8, no. 2 (2008): 163–179.

Davis Kathy. "“A Dubious Equality: Men, Women, and Cosmetic Surgery”". Body & Society 8, no. 1 (2002): 49–65.

El Jurdi Hounaida, and Sandra Smith. “"Mirror, Mirror: National Identity and the Pursuit of Beauty"”. Journal of Consumer Marketing 35, no. 1 (2018): 40–50.

Foucault Michel. Discipline and Punish. New York: Vintage, 1979.

Gallagher Hall, and Lisa Pecot-Hebert. "‘“You Need a Makeover!’: The Social Construction of Female Body Image in A Makeover Story, What Not to Wear, and Extreme Makeover”". Popular
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Gimlin D. ““Cosmetic Surgery: Beauty as Commodity”.” Qualitative Sociology 23, no. 1 (2000): 77–98.

Grabe Shelly, L. Monique Ward, and Janet Shibley Hyde. "“The Role of the Media in Body Image Concerns Among Women: A Meta-Analysis of Experimental and Correlational Studies”".
Psychological Bulletin 134, no. 3 (2008): 460.

Grogan Sarah, and Helen Richards. "“Body Image: Focus Groups with Boys and Men”". Men and Masculinities 4, no. 3 (2002): 219–232.

Grogan Sarah. Body Image: Understanding Body Dissatisfaction in Men, Women and Children. London: Routledge, 2016.

Gurrieri Lauren, Josephine Previte, and Jan Brace-Govan. "“Women’s Bodies as Sites of Control: Inadvertent Stigma and Exclusion in Social Marketing”". Journal of Macromarketing 33, no. 2 (2013):
128–143.

Hill Beverley. “"Consumer Transformation: Cosmetic Surgery as the Expression of Consumer Freedom or as a Marketing Imperative?"” M/C Journal 19, no. 4 (2016).

Lennon J., Kim K. P. Johnson, and Nancy Ann Rudd. Social Psychology of Dress. New York: Fairchild Books, 2017.

Lennon J., and Nancy A. Rudd. "“Linkages Between Attitudes Toward Gender Roles, Body Satisfaction, Self‐Esteem, and Appearance Management Behaviors in Women”". Family and Consumer
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Lirola Martínez, and Jan Chovanec. "“The Dream of a Perfect Body Come True: Multimodality in Cosmetic Surgery Advertising”". Discourse & Society 23, no. 5 (2012): 487–507.

McCracken David. Transformations: Identity Construction in Contemporary Culture. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008.

Merianos L., Rebecca A. Vidourek, and Keith K. King. "“Medicalization of Female Beauty: A Content Analysis of Cosmetic Procedures”". The Qualitative Report 18, no. 46 (2013): 1–14.

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Ogle Paff, and Mary Lynn Damhorst. "“Critical Reflections on the Body and Related Sociocultural Discourses at the Midlife Transition: An Interpretive Study of Women’s Experiences”". Journal of
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Ouellette Laurie. "“Inventing the Cosmo Girl: Class Identity and Girl-Style American Dreams”". Media, Culture & Society 21, no. 3 (1999): 359–383.

Peiss Kathy. "Making Up, Making Over: Cosmetics, Consumer Culture, and Women’s Identity". In The Sex of Things: Gender and Consumption in Historical Perspective, edited by Victoria de Grazia,
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Yamamiya Yuko, Thomas F. Cash, Susan E. Melnyk, Heidi D. Posavac, and Steven S. Posavac. "“Women’s Exposure to Thin-and-Beautiful Media Images: Body Image Effects of Media-Ideal
Internalization and Impact-Reduction Interventions”". Body Image 2, no. 1 (2005): 74–80.

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