Say It Loud! Go Topless!

Say it loud! Go Topless!

How many ads do you see that comes across in a typical Allure magazine? Probably plenty of them. On the ads, we find endorsements for beauty care products, new clothing lines, and even contraceptives. What no one tends to think about is how these ads affect our way of thinking. We see millions of ads every year even without realizing it. They affect the way we purchase our products. These ads tell us what to wear, how to wear it, or to wear nothing at all. Now-a-days, society progresses through a rough time with ads because we let them influence almost every aspect in our daily life. These advertisements persuade us to live a certain way and what products will help us to achieve our greatest self. The Covergirl advertisement found in Allure magazine gives an excellent example of how sex markets us through the use of advertisements.

When we first view the ad, three models catch our eyes. The models include the DJ’s Duo Nervo and the famous pop singer, P!nk.. Each has her hands up by her face and exhibits off her nails. The models take up the entire two pages while the actual product gathers itself away in the bottom right corner. In the opposite corner we can see the description of the product that the models use on their nails. Instead of displaying the actual products in bigger proximity, the ad puts more focus on the models. Our eyes notice these attractive models first and instantly grab our attention more than it would just seeing nail polishes sprawled on a page.

The three models look like your typical beautiful American starlets; the three of them are blond, white skinned and have canny eyes. Why would this ad use models that are very well known to the world instead of using women that would have that more “everyday” look? Most likely because the typical American girl looks up to these models more because they are well-known and could easily become role models as opposed to unknown models who might have no effect. The kind of ads now-a-days are very disturbing because they can influence a lot in a mind of a girl, and all this is because she wants to be perfect like these models in the picture, even if the pictures are Photoshopped to look like angels and to look so perfect.

Inscribed on the ad include the words “say it loud” and “go topless.” Each phrase splits into the opposing pages. One would think that these words should pertain to the nails when in actuality they have deeper innuendos. These phrases are very short and to the point; they are giving us commands and telling us what to do. “Say it loud” and “go topless” could be telling the audience to be bold and adventurous. Each phrase ends in an exclamation point in order to direct our attention to the words and make the audience focus on what the ad is saying. The phrases are not necessarily yelling at us but rather a technique used to grab attention. “Go topless” always brings up the question of getting naked such as when P!nk displayed without clothes is in the advertisement. Although “go topless” actually is referring to the nail polish’s built-in top coat, the audience really would not be able to tell because we could only figure this out if we directed our eyes to the small wordings in the bottom corner.

The target audience for this ad includes mainly women, preferably adolescence or young adults since the magazine where the ad is located is for mostly women. Like Susan Bordo states in “Reading Bodies,” “With all the naked bodies around nowadays, this sensibility may ultimately reach its historical limit too, as we get jaded and bored with (mostly plastic) flesh around” (138). Teens in these times are affected by ads because they want to be like the perfect models in them. They can be affected in terms of eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia. Also men and mostly woman undergo surgical procedures to look like these “beautiful people.” These issues that arise from these ads can cause harm to these teens and even death in some cases. Beautiful “fakeness” is a dream come true or is on the to-do list for some people. Younger girls develop self-esteem issues because they desire so much to be like these models. They want to look like these models and be just like them so badly that they become obsessed that they will do whatever it takes to achieve this “perfection.” In actuality, most of these models are Photoshopped so these advertisements are teaching our generations a false dream or an imagination that will never come true. In these advertisements, the message would seem like they are trying to sell the audience nail polish but in actuality, they are trying to sell the audience