Ashani Dunwell
October 24, 2012
ENG 101
Who Ever Said There Is No Such Thing As Perfect?
For as long as society can remember, advertisers have somehow successfully managed to
feed off the insecurities of their viewers in order to sell products. By placing photo-shopped and
sometimes even suggestive images in their ads, they are able to target consumers and persuade
them that the specific product is just what they need to “fix” whatever imperfection they believe
they may possess. In Fowel’s “Advertising’s Basic Fifteen Appeals” he touches on the emotional
appeal of these specific advertisements and how, by appealing to what we desire and have come
to believe we need, these advertisements are able to draw in potential customers. “The
continuous pressure is to create ads more and more in the image of audience motives and
desires.” (Fowels, p.73) The advertisement I have chosen specifically targets female buyers with
a Victoria’s Secret bra by putting a twist on the well-known quote, “Nobody’s perfect.” Carrying
the knowledge that every woman desires attention and strives to achieve it by physically
enhancing themselves, advertisers use suggestive text to trigger the audiences’ insecurities,
convincing them to buy the product that guarantees perfection. Appearing in the ad is wellknown model and television hostess Heidi Klum sporting a simple, almost plain bra. However,
next to the name brand “The New Perfect One” follows the text claiming that, “No one’s perfect.
Until now.” An extreme statement like that latches onto the brains of women and convinces them
that it is true. Although the ad is promoting irrational thoughts, women’s subconscious mind
allows them to believe what it is saying despite the falsity. “An advertising message contains
something primary and primitive, an emotional appeal, that in effect is the thin edge of the
wedge, trying to find its way into a mind.” (Fowels, p. 76)
Victoria’s Secret being such a world-renown, multi-brand company, their ability to
seduce consumers through advertisement has become nearly effortless. With just a glance of the
name, excessive credibility and success follows. Over the years, women have gradually begun to
idolize these models and aspire to look like them as much as they can. Their beauty matched
with athletic build, curves, and charming qualities broadcasted publicly in printed ads,
commercials, and fashion shows has set a high standard for the female race in society. At this
point the people being targeted are no longer older, mature women, but as the company expands,
girls of younger ages have been subdued by the idea that owning Victoria’s Secret’s products
makes you beautiful, desirable, and in this case, “perfect.” “The desire to exhibit ourselves in
such a way as to make others look at us is a primitive, insuppressible instinct.” Fowel states in
his article. (p. 83) In addition to the suggestive idea of becoming perfect with the purchase of this
bra, the advertisement states that the bra is only available in sizes 32B to 44DD. This may
quickly cause women to feel that if their breast size is any smaller or even larger than this
specified size, they have no chance of being perfect. “Sometimes there is an apparently logical
link between an ad’s emotional appeal and its product information.” (Fowels, p. 75) However, by
implying this, younger girls may begin to develop insecurity about their breast size and do
anything they can to change it, temporarily or even permanently before even given themselves a
chance to fully develop. “It is difficult enough that advertisers define what “sexy” is, their
bombardment of images often obscuring the definitions that students may cultivate on their
own,” states Moog in his article “Ad Images and the Stunting of Sexuality,” “But it is even
worse when, once the commercial sexuality is defined, advertisers continue to exert pressure on
people to become sexy, stay sexy, and get sexier.” (Moog, p. 154)
Along with being a popular, successful lingerie market, Victoria’s Secret has also been
dubbed “Number one sexiest ads.” (Bondeson) By pairing what society deems the most beautiful
women in the world together in these ads as the prime example of beauty and sex appeal,
Victoria’s Secret has become one of the most accredited lingerie companies around. In the
advertisement I’ve chosen, the company uses former Victoria’s Secret angel Heidi Klum as the
example. Not only has Klum been seen on the cover of magazines such as Sports Illustrated, GQ
and Glamour, she is also affiliated with her own clothing line and the television show Project
Runway. Being such an icon Heidi Klum is a reasonable fit for an ad claiming “perfection.”
Viewers can take one look at the advertisement and automatically all of her credibility follows,
triggering the idea that by purchasing a bra that Heidi Klum has worn, you can be as beautiful or
sought after as her. “The clothing and cosmetic industries exist just to serve this need,
encouraging females who want to be a star in their own lives to purchase this product.” (Fowel)
Women not only want men to swoon over them but want other women to admire them and long
to look like them, such as they do with celebrities. Because of this, women will give into an
advertisement’s scheme in order to achieve the results they want.
Along with simply being in the ad, Klum is pictured leaning in towards the camera with
tousled hair while seductively peering at the viewer. Her facial expression alone gives off a
sexually charged vibe, but the ad as a whole suggests that the bra will give sex appeal to whoever
is wearing it. In “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals” Fowel expresses that sexuality isn’t a big
factor in advertisement. “Contrary to impression,” he states, “unambiguous sex is rare in these
messages.” (p. 78) Although as the years go by, it seems that the majority of people will disagree
as the use of sexual imagery in advertising increases dramatically in popularity. In contrast to
Fowel, Moog believes that advertisers are strong in using sexual references. In his article he says,
“If sex seems rampant in advertising, it is.” (p. 152)
Although we see hundreds of advertisements per day, there are only a few that stick with
us. These are the ads that use the proper techniques to prey on consumer’s insecurities and subconscious thoughts to pull them in before pouncing. Because of our pre-developed ideas of
beauty and desirability, women make it easier for advertisers to understand what to include in
their product marketing to capture the attention of potential buyers. “By giving form to people’s
deep-lying desires, and picturing states of being that individuals privately yearn for, advertisers
have the best chance of arresting attention and affecting communication,” Fowel discusses in his
article about manipulating the emotional appeals of consumers, “And this is the immediate goal
of advertising: To tug at our psychological shirt sleeves and slow us down long enough for a
word or two about whatever is being sold.” (p. 73) As time goes on advertisers will continue to
use the ideas that people develop inside their heads for more effective advertising techniques.
Also, just as sexual referencing, overtime, has increased in popularity; other techniques will
begin to be used more often as well. For decades, advertising has been successful by
manipulating the emotional appeals of people with their ads and will continue to do so for years
to come.
Citations –
Fowels, Jib. Advertising's Fifteen Basic Appeals. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 1996. Print.
Moog, Carol. Ad Images and the Stunting of Sexuality. Urbana, Illinois: NCTE, 1994. Print.
"Victoria’s Secret The Perfect One By Heidi Klum." StyleFrizz. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2012.
<http://stylefrizz.com/200903/victorias-secret-the-perfect-one-by-heidi-klum/>.