As Our Society Evolves, So Does Our Advertising

The Colgate-Palmolive company started as a soap and candle business in the early nineteenth century, and includes brands such as Colgate, Palmolive, Speed Stick, Softsoap, and more. Thus, the company operates within the household products industry and the cosmetic industry. This blog will specifically explore the cosmetic side of the industry, and investigate advertising used for Palmolive face and body soap. Overall, the company states that its values include caring, global teamwork, and continuous improvement; its overall goal is the improve the quality of life for consumers. Within the beauty industry, this means that the company’s major effect is persuading consumers that they can become “new and improved” with the use of their products, and will be able to fit society's idealized image of beauty. The advertising does not simply imply that the consumer will purchase the product itself, but also the experience and positive emotions that accompany it.

1922 Advertisement for Palmolive Soap titled "Moments Which Count"
Source: https://repository.duke.edu/dc/adaccess/BH1002

The above ad was published by the Palmolive Company nearly 100 years ago, in 1922. When looking at an advertisement, consumers generally notice the visual components first, particularly when color images are used. For me, the large image portraying a woman and man stuck out. In the image, a woman with pale, porcelain skin who is dressed up is sitting next to a man in a tuxedo who is intently looking at her. Although one would likely not know what product is being sold from this image alone, it entices the consumer to move forward in reading the ad. Through the first few paragraphs of the written portion of the ad, it is clear that the most prominent tactic used here is sexual appeal. The first sentence reads,

"When you are conscious of the scrutiny of interested eyes which appraise every detail of your appearance, can you sit serene, secure in the consciousness that there is nothing to criticise but everything to admire?"

Sexual appeal in advertising involves the promise of sexual fulfillment and attention from the opposite sex, if the consumer were to purchase the product. This ad mentions that the consumer's "fresh, clear skin and smooth, white neck and arms are sure to command admiration" through the use of the Palmolive soap. This advertisement is specifically targeted towards women, and capitalizes on a woman's "hope" to garner attention from men. While women gained more freedom in the 1920s than they had in earlier times, men were still considered the head of the household. Many people retained traditional views that women were objects of beauty, and this is reflected in this advertisement, in which the women's purpose is seen as impressing a man and gaining his approval through her appearance. In addition to the sexual appeal, the advertisement also uses rational appeal, as it clearly mentions the affordability of the product; this appeal is used frequently for "common" items, such as soap. More attention is drawn to the price of 10 cents because it is the largest font size within all of the text. The rational appeal often uses customer testimonials; while this ad did not do this, it nearly used Cleopatra as a testimonial, referencing the ancient use of the ingredients in the product. Although this was not based on any presented facts or statistics, explaining the history of the oils and why they are used serves to logically convince the reader to buy the product.

Lastly, during this time period beauty carried a level of importance, and particularly pale, white women were seen as beautiful. Dark skin was often treated as a blemish, and many people used skin lightening creams. Thus, this advertisement showcases this ideal beauty standard by depicting a pale, white woman and mentioning "white" skin in the text. The advertisement does use some level of fear appeal to explain that if the product is not used, women will not have this beautiful skin and "clogged pores, coarse texture and blackheads" will result.

2015 Advertisement for Palmolive Naturals Soap, depicting actress Angel Locsin
Source: http://blog.sampleroom.ph/2015/09/exciting-innovation-palmolive-naturals-flawless-clean-soap/

Fast forward 93 years, and above is a modern advertisement for Palmolive. Like the 1922 ad, the target audience for the soap is women. Although the product is not necessarily gendered, the use of a female in the ad allows women to more readily visualize themselves using the product.  The ad is much simpler, as it only includes one line of text (as compared to the 14 paragraphs of text in the older ad). This truly makes the focus of the ad the image of the woman and the product itself. The color scheme used also allows these foci to "pop" and draw the attention of the consumer, and the pink color emphasizes femininity. Primarily, the rational appeal is used here, as the mention of "clean skin" emphasizes the simple goal of the product. The advertisement also shows that the product uses natural ingredients, such as "charcoal powder," which builds logical trust for the product. Because the product is endorsed by a celebrity, Angel Locsin, this also builds a level of logical and emotional trust; testimonials appeal to the consumer. This is a strong testimonial because the advertisement allows the consumer to actually "see" the results, as the image of Angel Locsin showcases her bright, clean skin. The ad still appeals to a woman's interest of looking beautiful, but does so in a more rational way, removed from impressing others (i.e., men). Finally, it is important to note that Angel Locsin is Filipina, and thus the ad showcases that diverse backgrounds are beautiful as well, thus challenging the traditional ideals for the way women should look.

Concluding Thoughts 

The above video, "Women's Makeup Throughout History," was posted by BuzzFeed on YouTube and showcases how certain beauty standards for women have changed over time and in different cultures. Societal standards often dictate which women are shown in media and advertisements. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g08-_NExOX0

Overall, these two ads for Palmolive show that the industry and its advertising have changed in some ways. One of the most important changes affecting the representation of products is the perception of women in society. According to AdAge, the mid-20th century marked the first time period where women were depicted in roles other than "purchaser of domestic products." Many of the cosmetic advertisements in the early 20th century were centered around women spending their time buying products so that they could look their best for men. The 1922 Palmolive ad implied that it would be truly embarrassing if a woman could not be confident while a man was staring at her. The 2015 ad,
however, did not use the sexual appeal, or objectify women in that manner. Although society still places an important emphasis on beauty for women, it is important in today's age for this to be seen as an individual consumer's decision; many more diverse women are also represented today through media, signifying changing beauty ideals. Both ads employed a logical appeal, as rational explanations are important in gaining a consumer's trust and selling a product. Current ads generally are more realistic about products than in the past, as Pavlik and McIntosh mention that during the 19th and early 20th centuries there were no standards for advertising, meaning untrue and extravagant claims were often made about products. Finally, I think it is important to note that old ads were much more lengthy and burdened with text. While people may have spent more time viewing advertisements 100 years ago, in our current age consumers view advertisements fast; with the advent of the Internet, people have a shorter attention span for material and often like to immediately click out of ads if they are available to. Thus, it is increasingly important for ads to use visuals and convincing techniques to capture a consumer's interest.

Sources:
https://www.colgatepalmolive.com/en-us/about
https://people.howstuffworks.com/culture-traditions/tv-and-culture/commercials-influence-american-culture.htm 
https://www.artinstitutes.edu/about/blog/a-revealing-look-at-beauty-advertising
https://crescendoagency.com/2015/09/29/7-advertising-appeals-improve-creative-response/  
https://classroom.synonym.com/home-life-1920s-18988.html
http://kboyd.web.unc.edu/2014/09/23/skin-lightening-and-hair-straightening-in-the-1920s/
https://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/women-representations-advertising/98938/
Pavlik, John V., and Shawn McIntosh. Converging Media: A New Introduction to Mass Communication. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print