Promoting a sense of the true American spirit is a popular tactic for many companies to sell products because of the innate and contagious pride in one’s nation. Almay created a commercial featuring Carrie Underwood that appeals to this idea in order to sell makeup. Carie begins by describing the embodiment of beauty in America, while an impressive scene of a mountain complete with a cascading waterfall fills the background. The song “All American Girl” plays with a video of Carrie performing it passionately while wearing a patriotic shirt. This is a song she rote herself and it describes the idyllic life of a girl growing up in America.
She describes how Americans are big dreamers who are full of pride for the place they call home. The commercial then ends with a close-up shot of the country singer stating that Almay creates “products that deliver an effortless beauty look, genuine and glowing with confidence.. simply American” (Almay). In this commercial, Almay uses American country singer Carrie Underwood to market their cosmetics to the American female population by promoting a sense of patriotism and empowerment through the use of cosmetic roducts that create a naturally beautiful look.
The inclusion of Carrie Underwood was a purposeful choice as she is a popular Country singer who many young women admire, and she is able to use her fame to endorse the brand. Carrie Underwood has many famous songs, one of which being “All-american Girl”, which is included in this advertisement and phrases can be heard in the background such as “his heart belongs to that sweet, little, beautiful, wonderful, perfect All-American girl”. Hearing these words can create a sentimental feeling for many women as they envision a little girl growing up with a strong ond to her father as she meets the ups and downs of life.
As Underwood speaks about the product, she speaks right to the audience in a genuine and passionate manner, which is convincing because it seems as if she really uses the brand herself and is not just relaying her lines. This technique is used because it rids advertisements of the sense that everything is simply an illusion and it instead promotes a sense of realism similar to that mentioned by Jack Solomon in his essay “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising”.
Specifically, he efers to a technique popular in the 80’s where advertisers,”attempt to convince you that what you’re seeing is the real thing, that the ad is giving you the straight dope, not advertising hype” (Solomon, 412). The sentimental song lyrics combined with Underwood’s seemingly sincere praise for the brand are able to successfully target consumers who are drawn toward the country music star. Many aspects in this Almay commercial work collectively to create a strong sense of the American spirit which is something women living in the US and of almost any age can relate to.
The patriotic feeling is built gradually, starting with scenes of American landscapes that remind viewers of the beauty in the place that they call home. The scene in which a girls runs carefree through a tall field of wheat is shown next and it calls to the roots of America in being homegrown and self made. This is revisited toward the end of the commercial when the ad states that Almay employs “American science” in the creation of their products. Many Americans prefer buying products that market themselves as “made in the USA”, and this commercial attempts to appeal to that.
Carrying the patriotic theme along, one of the simplest images of nationalism, a child waving a flag with a great big smile and no care in the world, is displayed. Most people will find this image heartwarming as it helps to create a patriotic spirit because if one feels passionately about their country, they will be more willing to buy a product that markets themselves as supporting their country. While this ad appeals to a sense of patriotism, it could also be related to the egalitarian values in society by relating a product that is marketed toward the average American woman.
The concept of natural beauty is communicated when Carrie Underwood states that Almay creates “products that deliver an effortless beauty look, genuine and glowing with confidence”. She makes it seems as though using this makeup line will make one appear to stand out by poking naturally beautiful which is something many American women strive for, typically across the different age groups. They want to achieve a look that seems like they took a great deal of time to achieve when in reality they were able to get it with a few easy steps.
Everyday beauty products are those that people ight gravitate towards in the hopes of appearing like everyone else, or the average American woman. Solomon addresses societal values in America and he notes that one of the two faces of the American dream is one that is “communally egalitarian”and “fosters a desire to be popular, to ‘belong” which is an easily applicable concept in regards to beauty standards. Women want to adopt the beauty trends that they believe are most popular around them, and with Carrie Underwood, posed as the everyday American girl who is presenting a natural beauty look, they are easily targeted regardless of age.
The commercial states that in America, “dreams are born and hopes fly high” as a scene of a gymnast in a patriotic leotard is shown executing a routine perfectly. She finishes and looks up as a look of pure joy crosses her face because she feels confident in knowing she nailed her tricks. The commercial employs this theme to sell Almay’s makeup as a way of empowerment for women with beauty. If they go out with almay makeup on their face, they will feel confident in knowing that they look beautiful and this will then lead them to accomplish great things.
The other face of the american dream ccording to Solomon is one that is “competitively elitist” and one that encourages one to want to stand out amongst everyone for having a higher social status. , which is something makeup could help a woman with. By transforming her face, she is able to appear more attractive and in her mind as others glance her way, they will admire her looks which in turn will give the made-over woman a sense of empowerment. Carrie states that the makeup will create a look that is “glowing with confidence” which is how most women strive to appear when they use mascara or dust on blush.
No matter how young or old, this commercial is highly persuasive that in using this makeup line, a woman will be able to attain an outward appearance that will enable her to feel as if she can stand above the crowd. The commercial overall was successful in embracing a wide range of American women with its promises concerning the transformative properties of Almay Makeup. This was done by appealing to different desires such as the paradoxical sides to the American dream pointed out by Solomon, those being to belong and feel popular as well as standing above the rest.
The atriotic feeling was found throughout the commercial and it helped Carrie Underwood target women with the claims that Almay makeup delivers both an effortless and confidence-giving look. While this commercial leaves women with generally positive messages, it could also be observed that the lightheartedness of the ad covers its whole premise which is to target women’s insecurities that are caused by unattainable expectations set forth by the beauty industry. It is important for people to learn to analyze advertisements for what they truly are in order to avoid possible harm in feeling inadequate.
