Revlon Mascara (ad journal entry 5)

This week we discussed print ads and as I was flipping through a fashion magazine I found the ad for the new Revlon 3D extreme mascara. When I read Ogilvy’s “Wanted: a renaissance in print advertising” I thought I would be able to connect the print ad to his article. First off Ogilvy writes about television being more exciting than print ads, so Revlon has used both mediums in their advertising. They have a television commercial along with various ads in different fashion magazines. Therefore someone is going to see this ad no matter if they’re watching TV or looking through a magazine in the doctor’s office waiting room.

Next he says that headlines with a promise will sell better. In this advertisement there is not an actual headline but a few word which claim, “25x fuller, 70% curvier, and 80% visibly longer lashes”. When I first saw this print ad/television ad I was truly convinced, and not because of Jessica Alba’s celebrity. I bought this product because of the “promise” as well as the close up of her eye with beautifully thick long luxurious eyelashes. As for whether or not the product does what it promises. Well I do like the mascara, and would purchase it again, but there is no way that I could actually measure at what percent my eyelash’s curviness is. It doesn’t really matter what the ad or who’s in the ad I am such a sucker for these make up ads.

Ogilvy mentions using famous people is a good idea so that the famous person is relatable. Jessica Alba is a good choice for Revlon because she is very pretty but not so much that a woman would be intimidated by her, so the product will sell regardless if a woman is a fan of Alba’s work or maybe their boyfriend likes Alba and hopes if she wears this product she will look more like Jessica Alba. No I’m kidding on that last part I don’t think that would really happen! Next Ogilvy says color ads work better that black and white. I do believe that this point is true, but since this ad is in black and white it will still works since there is an old Hollywood trend going on. The television ads as well as the magazine ads are in both color and black and white. So in my opinion the ads will do well since they are unique; mixing a little old Hollywood with the new. Over all, this entire ad follows most of the criteria Ogilvy has written all but, in my opinion, when he says long ads will sell more than short ads. In this day and age short is gold!

October 2, 2007. Ad Journal.