Ashley Dunford
1-23-2013
“The Proactiv Difference”
Don’t you wish your skin could be as flawless as the celebrities you see on
TV? Proactiv has found a way to make you believe that by using their product your
skin will be perfect and acne free. Eleven, the advertising company that created the
campaign, endorses popular celebrities to show their “breakouts” and how Proactiv
“helps” clear their face. The commercials also show normal everyday people stating
how Proactiv helped change their lives and made them as beautiful as they have
always wanted to be. With the very large, cultural impact celebrities have on the
average American, the use of doctors, everyday people, and free products for the
purchase as logos, Proactiv has been a successful and very persuasive company.
One-way the Proactiv commercials persuade people to use their product is
by using everyday people. This helps the viewers see that they are not the only
people experiencing blackheads, and blemishes. This tactic really plays with
people’s emotions, making them feel like they are part of a large group of people and
not outside the social norm. When the commercial shows normal people who have
used Proactiv they show a before photo, where the person looks miserable: they
have their hair thrown up or messy, their face is red, and they have ache
everywhere. Showing shortly after is the picture of the same person after they used
Proactiv. The person usually has: a huge smile, nice outfits on, perfect hair, and
flawless skin. These commercials are known to change everyday lives, but not only
normal lives. Celebrities are also known to be self-conscious about their acne, and
are also “changed” by the Proactiv products.
Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Julianne Hough are some of the famous faces
you will see staring in the often-aired commercials. According to
howtogetridofacnehelp.com, Proactiv has more than 15 endorsed celebrities
including singers, actors, dancers and athletes. Using all kinds of different
celebrities opens your target audience range. Singers and performers help draw
attention to the target audience by connecting with those who love their music,
think they are the definition of beauty, and who want to be just like them. On the
other hand, athletes open the door to individuals who know the athlete well, play
sports, or sweat a great deal when working out. However, after the commercial, I am
always caught thinking if I can really trust these messages, or are they paid to say all
of these wonderful things about the Proactiv product.
One of the biggest questions, that run’s through almost everyone’s mind after
any commercial is, would that product really work? Is it worth my money?
According to dailystrength.org, about 50% of the Proactiv users actually find that it
helps their skin, and works for them. In Proactiv commercials, they say, “Proactiv
helps with all ages, and all skin types”. Therefore, some people might say that
Proactiv commercials are lying in order to sell the product, in order to get all the
money back that they have spent on advertising and spokespeople. People have left
complaints about Proactiv. According to healthfulheadlines.com, “There are lots of
complaints from people who claim that their acne got better, but then shortly after
got much worse”. So Proactiv might work in the beginning, but after the first two
months, the period never talked about in commercials, the effects it had for you
could ware off”. Also according to healthfulheadlines.com, many people posted a
common complaint that the product was to harsh for their skin, made their skin red,
just irritated their zits; and in some cases made them more noticeable than before.
On healthfulheadlines.com, they observed about 10 complaints for every 2 positive
comments. They believe that Proactiv seems like it is working, only because of the
large amount of people who have tried. Just the fact that this product works may
not be enough to sell the large quantities that they need to.
Rendering to www.forbes.com, Proactiv pays their top celebrities between $2
and $3 million dollars for their commercial time, Proactiv, for the most part, has
about 5-8 celebrities signed at one time. Doing the math, that is about $15 million
per year only on the spokespeople. The $15 million is just the beginning; we haven’t
included the production cost, the cost of labor, and material combined. Also
according to forbes.com, the production cost came up to a whopping $200 million
annual fee. Now, I start to wonder if all of this money is actually paying off for
Proactiv.
What exactly is making all of these people buy Proactiv if it doesn’t do what
the commercials say it does? Lets not forget about all of the creditability Proactiv
gets because of the celebrities they have endorsed. Because of the celebrities people
remember the commercials, the celebrities get the Proactiv name out so people can
see the name and remember the product. According to Forbes.com, the celebrities
brought Proactiv “1.5 million YouTube views, 43,000 Facebook fans and 11,200
Twitter followers to say nothing of a projected $800 million in revenue for its
flagship acne products in 2010”. So just off of the celebrities’ faces, voice, and credit
people are following the Proactiv celebs on the Internet and racking in a bunch of
revenue for the company. Maybe that’s why the company always has a bunch of
endorsed figures.
Celebrity obsession has been on the rise. The producers of the Proactive
commercials were very smart about endorsing a large number of celebrities for this
reason. The American population loves celebrities; what they do on a daily basis,
what they say, and even whom they are with. According to livescience.com
researchers found, “obituaries of entertainers and athletes marched steadily to the
top in rank — from seventh in 1900, to fifth in 1925, to third in 1950 and first in
1975 and 2000; in 2000”. This proves that the obsession, and their ethos are on the
rise as well.
One main source that provides people with information about celebrities is
media. Media has a huge impact on society, and a lot of media, including TV, includes
famous celebrities. They are normally promoting some sort of product, or singing,
playing a sport, even in the stands of a sporting event. No matter what they are
doing, majority of American’s are obsessed with knowing. Also, according to
livescience.com, “We're social creatures, who evolved in an environment where it
was beneficial to pay attention to the top dogs. As such, celebrity obsession may be
an outgrowth of that ancestral tendency, something no doubt nourished by the
media and technology”. As the quote states, we grew up in a place where we learned
it was important and good for us to try and follow the “top dog”. Because we grew
up thinking it was so important to be like these people, in form, we stalk them to
know what they are doing. When the viewers of the commercials see that the new
“top dog” is using Proactiv we want to get it, to be like them.
A large reason all of the stars had a positive impact on the population is
because they said it helped them in their lives. When celebrities say that something
helped them it makes average people want it even more, maybe we can get to be like
them! According to wisegeek.com, “Endorsements also may increase the consumer's
desire for a product. This is often achieved by implying that the particular celebrity
is successful, talented or attractive at least partly because of the product”.
Celebrities often say, in the commercial, how they used to have breakouts, and acne
problems and they were embarrassed while on stage, or in front of so many people.
That gives us a reason to be embarrassed about out breakouts and blemishes. Then
the celebrities proceed to say how then they found Proactiv, and ever sense then
they have been blemish free. What an amazing impact the product had in their life to
help them become more attractive and confidant than they already are. When
average people see that the product made celebrities imperfections go away, we
suddenly think that the product will do the same for us and maybe we have a shot at
looking like they do.
If you think those are the only ways Proactiv gets a large amount of ethos,
think again. Katie Rodan, M.D., and Kathy Fields M.D. are the two Stanford graduates
who created the product. According to Proactiv.com, they are “board-certified and
still-practicing dermatologist”. Having these two ladies as the brains behind Proactiv
definitely helps. The average American looks up to doctors and we trust them with
our lives. Almost everyone has always fully trusted any kind of doctor, whatever
they say; we believe what they say is correct just because of their label of a doctor.
The average person labels a doctor with high credibility. Even if we see someone
dressed as a doctor, like in other commercials, with a long white lab coat, we
instantly categorize them as a doctor, someone with high credibility. When we see,
or hear, that two dermatologist who both have their M.D. we believe that their
product is the real deal; I mean, they are doctors right?
To close out the commercial, they show the “special offers” you can receive
when, and if, you purchase Proactiv. A lot of the times they will give you a
discounted price if you order at the time of the commercial. And if you order soon,
they say they will throw in a free facemask, or a free brush, or something free from
the Proactiv collection! Proactiv also offers a free trial, where if you are not happy
with your results then you can receive your money back. This helps plant the idea
that this company is so confident in their product working they are willing to give
money back. Sometimes the popular celebrity who spoke in the beginning will show
back up on screen and say a few last words, so we remember that we to can have a
perfect face like the celebrities we see on TV.
With the cultural impact celebrities have on people, using everyday people,
the use of doctors, and free products for the purchase as logos; Proactiv has been a
successful and very persuasive company. Proactiv has all of us average people
figured out; using celebrities to gain ethos, and the name of doctors to receive even
more credibility, everyday people to obtain our trust, and make us feel more
welcome to the product makes us think that this is the start of something life
changing. Proactiv made a very successful business move to create the commercials,
and draw every blemish filled face’s attention to the screen. However, now that you
know the real facts, do you want to be Proactiv?
Work Cited
Admin. "Celebrities Who Endorse Proactiv Solution."
Wwwhowtogetridofacnehelpcom. N.p., 27 Feb. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.
Casserly, Meghan. "Proactiv's Active Ingredient: Celebrity." Forbes. Forbes Magazine,
30 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Jan. 2013
Elliott, Stuart. "Trying to Move Up From a Fast-Talking, Buy-Now Approach." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 04 May 2010. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.
Gannon, Megan. "Obit Archives Reveal Rise of Celebrity Culture." LiveScience.com.
N.p., 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.
Paul, Alex, and Angela B. "What Is the Effect of Celebrity Endorsements in
Advertising?" WiseGeek. Conjecture, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.
"Proactiv." Skin and Beauty Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2013.