Modern Lipstick Adverts

The adverts have changed greatly since the previous examples I had given, Furthering my research for my report I looked at a great range of the product stores displayed by numerous advertising campaigns but there are particular stories that return again and again.  It isn't difficult to guess what these stories are as we are subjected to them on a daily basis. Did you know we are, on average subjected to over 2000 images per day? That is a lot and that is why quite often we don't realise exactly what we are looking at until we stop and REALLY look at something.

The first trope is the 'Glamorous heiress' that we all make futile attempts to emulate, these are often incredibly stunning well dressed women with lots of gold packaging and rich coloured pigments. This is often the campaign design recipe chosen by high end designer brands as it mirrors their brand ideologies. 

The second trope is the 'Natural Beauty' the close up shot of a beautiful woman gazing directly into the camera often bringing her hands into shot to empathises an element of vulnerability or shyness suggesting that the consumer would end up being as captivating if they were to wear the product. This is another campaign recipe that is often used by the high end brands because it suggest that they don't have to 'try' to persuade their audience. 

The often used by more edgy brands is the 'Sex sells' trope with women in seductive poses with smokey 'come to bed eyes'  or being overly objectified with phallic symbolism. This unfortunately is completely in keeping with the status quo within advertising for women to be portrayed in this way constantly...resulting in it no longer being shocking or compelling just very expected. 

Last but not least I thought I would share with you one of the campaigns that I found that I really liked because it was so different to what I have seen before, this campaign made me stop and look at it and really appreciate it. It is by Tom Ford who is renowned for his shocking and provocative advertising campaigns. This unlike his previous women objectifying campaigns is actually pushing boundaries where men are concerned. 

These adverts showing men applying lipstick are shocking now but I hope that they are helming with the genger neutralising of the cosmetic industry that i feel is bound to start happening over the next decade. With trans issues starting to be openly talked about in public forums I feel that seeing men applying makeup is going to become commonplace and Ford is once again infant of the curve. And I LOVE IT!!

Much love  K xx