Maybe Maybelline Lies?

Everywhere we go, the media surrounds us with information on how we are supposed to look, how we are supposed to act, and so much more. Advertisers use our longing for the perfection we are exposed to by the media to get us to buy their products, whether it's advertising a new cologne so people can smell good, or advertising a new makeup product so that we feel like we look good. Maybelline has come out with a new mascara, which supposedly gives your eyelashes a "cat eye" effect. In the commercial linked to this page, a woman with insanely long eyelashes is filmed, as well as a jaguar, an animal belonging to the cat species. This gives the typical observer the sense that their eyelashes are really going to make their eyes look cat-tish by using this mascara. However, now that I am aware of the language manipulation used by advertisers, I am not persuaded by the commercial to believe that this new mascara really is true in every way it is described.

http://www.maybelline.com/OnSet/2012/10/Volum-Express-The-Colossal-Cat-Eyes-TVC.aspx

First of all, this commercial has a phrase in which a woman says, "fiercely feminine, super feline." What is that supposed to mean? This phrase is so vague in what the appearance of the description actually is, it's ridiculous. The only way to make sense of this phrase is to look at each word from the phrase individually. The word "fiercely" gives off a good connotation, because when hearing it you feel independent, strong, brave. "Feminine" makes you feel true to your identity, if you're a girl of course, which is also a good connotation. "Super" always has a good connotation, because you feel like you have more. "Feline" describes the way that your eyes, or more specifically eyelashes are supposed to look with this mascara. It has a positive connotation as well. It's almost like the advertisers just took a few words that had positive connotations and jumbled them together to make it sound enticing, even though together they don't make much sense. People focus on the words individually, and how each sound positive and good, and that is why they don't pay attention to the overall meaning of the phrase, which is completely vague and strange.

Secondly, the commercial describes the formula they use to make the eyelashes look so amazing and feline by calling the formula a "collagen formula." Most people have no idea what collagen is, and most don't really care what it is, because the outcome of using the product is much more interesting and much more focused on throughout the commercial. However, if you actually took the time to look up what collagen is, I'm not sure you'd be as eager to use the mascara as you once were. Maybelline uses euphemism in it's commercial, because no one would buy their product if they actually knew what collagen is. According to thefreedictionary.com, collagen is "the fibrous protein constituent of bone, cartilage, tendon, and other connective tissue that converts to gelatin when boiling." Well, I think we know how the formula is made now! What's even more disturbing, though, is that if you really think about it, you will come to realize that collagen is found in flesh, and flesh is living. Obviously the only flesh legally allowed to be extracted is that of animals. So how do we get collagen...? Let that settle in, and I'm sure you'll be checking the formula for every mascara you use from now on.

Thirdly, and lastly, at the end of the commercial, the woman says that famous Maybelline phrase of "Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline." In this phrase, the word Maybelline takes on a whole different meaning than what it actually is. Instead of just being a brand, the word Maybelline takes on the meaning that it's something so natural and true that it is comparable to how you would be, well, naturally. You can't tell the difference between natural and Maybelline, according to this phrase. Therefore, it is a reification. This reification makes the observer feel that Maybelline has so much more meaning than just being a word, and that evokes the urge to buy the product.

Maybelline's commercial for the new cat eye mascara is enticing and persuading because of the way it can captivate an audience and sound true and convincing. However, if you break down the commercial and look at the different ways Maybelline manipulates language to convince an audience, it goes from interesting and powerful to deceiving and rather... disgusting. The next time I watch a Maybelline commercial, or any other type of commercial for that matter, I'll have to watch out for the language used, because most likely it's not really what it portrays. I'll also have to keep an eye out for unknown words, because you never know, the definitions might not be as pleasant as I'd presumed them to be.