A Critical Discourse Analysis on
Cosmetic Advertisements
Introduction
Maybe we are often not aware of the impact advertisements have on us, but in
fact, every day in our life we are surrounded by advertisements. If we have to read a
paper, watch television or walk around, we will find it impossible to avoid
advertisements. The primary function of advertisement is to introduce a wide range of
consumer goods to the public and thereby support the free-market economy. But that
is clearly not its only role. Advertisements also assume certain characteristics which
are less directly connected to selling. Advertisers try to manipulate people into buying
a way of life as well as goods.
Today, with the development of the technology and the diversity of the mass
media, advertising has influenced us pervasively in our daily life. Advertising
language is a style of immediate impact and rapid persuasion. The point of an
advertisement is to persuade the consumer of the merits of a particular product or
service, in order that the consumer will take out some of their money. However, the
language of cosmetic advertisements does mislead the customer. And the topic
concerning the rigorousness of cosmetic advertisement languages becomes
increasingly hotter.
In this paper, the specific area of cosmetic advertising will be analyzed from the
perspective of CDA to reveal from what aspects and how the advertising discourse
misleads the consumers. This study aims to help readers or potential customers to see
through or to be alert to the misleading or deceptive language used in cosmetic
advertisements by examining the use of the language and the reason why it has been
used that way.
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1 An Introduction to Critical Discourse Analysis
Critical discourse analysis or critical linguistics was first proposed by Roger
Fowler in the book of Language and Control. Critical linguists argue that language
can not be regarded as the neutral media of communication; it is a product of social
practice. In their points of view, language is closely linked to ideology, because
language is the commonest form of social behavior. “Ideology is pervasively present
in language, and ideological nature of language should be one of the major themes of
modern social science [1].” So language study should place a broad conception of
social study of language at the core of language study. That is to say, linguists should
analyse social interaction in a way focusing upon their linguistic elements, and should
try to show the generally hidden determinants in the system of social relationships, as
well as hidden effects they may have upon that system. In this sense, critical discourse
analysis formulates an analysis of a public discourse, and it is designed to explore the
ideology encoded implicitly behind the overt propositions, to examine it particularly
in the context of social formations. It focuses on the social practice of language
behavior, including its relation with powers, values, ideologies, and points of view
expressed and constituted in and about language.
1.1 The Development of Critical Discourse Analysis
Critical Discourse Analysis or critical linguistics was first proposed by Roger
Fowler in Language and Control. Fairclough, as a leading linguist in the research in
Critical Discourse Analysis, put forward three issues of CDA as follows: “Firstly ,
language is a kind of social practice, It is an eternal interventional strength of the
social order, which reflects the reality in all aspects, and then controls and influences
the society through ideology. Secondly, language and value, and relations between
power and religion mutually benefit and influence each other in social and cultural
environment. Thirdly, the use of langue can promote language change and social
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reform [2].” Fairclough admitted that critical language is not a social science without
any ardor but only objective. By this means, we know language is a product of social
practice, and as a tool of discourse analysis, Critical Discourse Analysis, or CDA is an
interdisciplinary approach to the study of language.
Critical Discourse Analysis attempts to unpack the ideological underpinnings of
discourse which have become so naturalized over time that we begin to treat them as
common, acceptable and natural features of discourse. As a kind of discourse analysis
model, from the aspects of linguistic, Critical Discourse Analysis claims to analyze
the hiding ideology and power when looking back the history and society. The real
birth of Critical Discourse Analysis should be attributed to the great scale of research
on the British Mass Media in 1970s. In 1976 the researchers of Glasgow University
reported their results of the “bad news” on TV. They discovered after a systematic
study that tremendous news reports existed prejudicially in the government and
capitalists’ favor. In 1985, Gunther Kress argued that we could not remain at the
simple fact validated in Language and Control that discourse is not ideologically free,
and there is a close relationship between language or discourse and the social
structure or social process they come from. Roger Fowler’s book, Linguistic Criticism,
is an introduction to the critical study of discourse. Another book Notes on Critical
linguistics issued in 1987 could be a demonstration of his change in positioning his
study.
Up to now, the theory of CDA has quite developed. Recently, readers have
strengthened their sensitivity to the ideology and the ideology of discourse
anti-control, improved the ability of critical reading and critical analysis, with the
development of economy, culture, and the globalization trends as well as the
introduction of western culture. As a young but vital theory, CDA has attracted more
and more scholars not only from linguistics but also from other spheres to get
involved in its study. Many famous critical linguists distinguish themselves in the
study of CDA. The modern linguist Fairclough began to research CDA in the 1980s,
and wrote down many books. Van Dijk, and Ruth Wodak are also important CDA
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linguists. However, their ways of CDA research are different. With the
Socio-cognitive model, Van Dijk analyzed the ideology from social, cognitive and
discourse aspects. Wodak mainly used a way of discourse historical, which was
influenced by discourse cognitive model. Another one is Norman Fairclough, his way
of research was closely related to M.A.K. Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar.
Although those scholars are interested in different orientations, it should be pointed
out that some features are common to most CDA researchers. That is: linguistic
analysis is the obligatory part, but it is not the only one. A critical discourse must
involve the investigation of social and institutional contexts. This thesis will adopt
some of those common features to analyze discourses of cosmetic advertisements.
1.2 The Purpose of Critical Discourse Analysis
Sitting under the big umbrella that functionalism took for it, critical discourse
analysis built up its own theoretical frame for its particular purpose.
“Critical linguistics insists that all representation is mediated, moulded by the
value-systems that are ingrained in the medium used for representation. It challenges
common sense by pointing out that something could have been represented some
other way, with a very different significance. Critical linguistics aims at changing or
even removing the condition off what is considered to be a false or distorted
consciousness, renders transparent what had previously been hidden. And in doing so,
it initiates a process of self-reflection in individuals or in group, designs to achieve a
liberation from the domination of past constraints
[3]
.” The proponents of this
linguistics model are concerned to expose the hidden ideology in a variety of modes
of public discourse. They offer critical readings of newspapers, political propaganda,
official documents, regulations, formal genres such as the interviews, and so on.
Topics examined include sexism, racism, inequality in education, employment, the
courts, war, nuclear weapons and nuclear power, political strategies, and commercial
practices. In relation to public discourse on such matters, the goals of the critical
linguists are in general term defamilarization or consciousness-raising.
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Critical Discourse Analysis does not require fixation of the way; it is a group
with the same theoretical basis and on the same issue of a generic term perspective. It
always reveals the implied injustice and inequality in the powerful words of
privileged class on behalf of the vulnerable groups. This article aims to reveal the
deception of cosmetics advertisements from the view of cosmetic consumers.
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2 Genre Analysis of Cosmetics Advertising Discourse
“Advertising is the non-personal communication of information usually paid for
and usually persuasive in return about products, services or ideas by identified
sponsors through various media
[4]
.” Advertisements can be divided into commercial
advertisements and non-commercial advertisements. In this thesis, the scope of the
analysis is restricted to the commercial advertisements, to be specific, the cosmetic
advertisements. Whatever kind advertising is, language is the main carrier of message
all along. Language of advertisements is also called the discourse of advertisements.
Research on the discourse of advertisements has been attracting linguists' attention for
a very long time.
To better interpret the cosmetic advertising discourse from a critical view, one
should place the text in its genre. “Genres are agents of ideological closure---they
limit the meaning-potential of a given text. Genre analysis is descried by as the study
of structural and linguistic regularities of particular genres or text types and the role
they play within a discourse community. Genre constrains the possible ways in which
a text is interpreted, guiding readers of a text towards a preferred reading (which is
normally in accordance with the dominant ideology).Every genre-orientation has a
style of its own set of characteristics that identify it. And each has different building
blocks that make it unique from other types of documents [5].”
2.1 Analysis of Schematic Structure
A number of different ways of describing textual structure have emerged in genre
studies. The following analysis tries to identify the specific schematic structure for
cosmetic advertisements to find out what distinctive features this kind of text has.
First of all, let's examine the following advertisement which can be divided into
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three parts according to their different effects represented by A, B and C:
1) A. From age 30, the first signs of ageing appear and the skin's needs change.
B. VISIBLE RESULTS contains Activa CellTM to help reactivate the skins
natural defense and repair processes.
C. The Anti Ageing cleansing range has been specifically developed to fight
against the loss of radiance, dull complexion and irregular skin texture. Visible
Results Daily Skin Perfecting Moisturiser visibly refines and softens skin texture and
reduces the appearance of wrinkles. (L'oreal)
This advertisement has three parts. Part A talks about the current situation of the
skin quality and the person's need, or the problem that is troubling him or her; part B
is the name of the cosmetic product; part C is the result or effects after using the
cosmetic product. So the whole advertisement is composed of three parts: the problem,
the product and the solution by means of using the product.
Let’s have a look at the second one which can be divided into four parts
represented by A, B, C and D:
2) A. Fight fine lines, refine pores and achieve beautifully smooth skin
immediately with this simple, two-step set.
3) B. Step 1: Refine to wet face with fingertips. Using circular motions, gently
massage face with Fingertips for 1-2 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with warm water and
pat dry.
Follow with Step 2: Replenish separates the set from the competition. It's a rich
serum, containing vitamins, antioxidants and anti-irritant.
C. Try it! Love it!
D. These results were experienced after just one week.
85% saw improvement in skin texture.
73% saw a reduction in fine lines.
71% saw smaller-looking pores.
Part A points out the purpose of using the product---to cure the skin problem;
part B describes in detail how the products work step by step; part C is a slogan and
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the part D is the result.
From the above examples, it is easy to conclude the schematic structure of
cosmetic advertisements. The basic components of it are slogan, problem, solution
and result.
Concluded from 30 advertising textual, I get the result as follow: all of them
have the component of “problem”. 28 have the component "solution". More than half
of the advertisements have the part of "result", while not many have the component
“slogan”.
Components
Slogan
Problem
Solution
Result
Appearance times
11
30
28
18
Total number
30
30
30
30
As is noted above, the parts of "problem" and "solution" exist almost in all the
advertisements. And these two parts each can be stated in a sentence or some
sentences or even some paragraphs, as the examples above show. The component of
"slogan" and "result" are optional, some of the advertisements have, some don't.
“Discourses as a means to communicate are organized according to certain kind
of thought pattern. The text pattern is the reflection of semantic contents, so different
text patterns reflect different meanings [6].”
The two examples are all organized according to the thought pattern. The reason
is that having stated the factual “problem”, the adoption of structures like “the answer
to this question, one solution to this problem” becomes natural. In the specific area of
cosmetic advertisements, the names of the cosmetic products instead of words like
“solution” and “answer” are more often used, especially in the part of “solution”.
The sequence of every part serves well the purpose of influencing and
persuading the consumers as it is natural reaction of us to find a solution to a problem,
especially when it comes to our appearances, and then to test the effectiveness of the
solution.
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The reason why this pattern of structure tends to be misleading is that by stating
a so-called answer after a question as a proven fact, the advertisement takes
something for granted. This gives the consumer the feeling that it is he who has come
to the conclusion on his own, or at least that the solution is the true answer.
Consequently, the consumer will think he has made up his own opinion on the product
presented in the advertisement. He is not aware of the fact that he has been taken over
unconsciously. The reader or hearer here has become the victim of manipulation.
2.2 Vocabulary
The linguistic damage that an effective but deceitful advertisement does on us is
much greater than we suspect. We think of these influences as limited to their
immediate listeners, but word usage spreads out like waves on a pond, and in the field
of advertising, a kind of social activity, in which the sponsor tries to gain benefit.
Words are especially well designed and can hardly be spotted by average consumers.
Some word usages are very appealing to women consumer, describing the ideal effect
after the use of the cosmetic product; some sound effective in changing the current
condition and for great improvement; some are too subtly weaved into the discourse
to be caught of their illogical usage. Some kinds of these uses are cited as follows:
2.2.1 Powerful Words
Words grouped into this kind are observed to describe the working process of the
cosmetic product. In most cases, the products are cleansing or anti-aging products.
Look at the following examples:
3) In just one weep peel away years of dullness, dryness&age damage. (AVON)
4)Without overdrying the skin, the Normaderm Acne Medication product
penetrate pores deeply to control acne blemishes and keep skin clear. (Vichy)
5) The Anti Ageing cleansing range has been specifically developed to fight
against the loss of radiance, dull complexion and irregular skin texture. (L' Oreal)
Other words like these are “inject”, “attack” and “innovate”, etc. These
“powerful words” are usually used to describe the working process of the cosmetic
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products of cleansing or anti-aging.
The reason for the advertiser’s particular favor for these words in cleansing or
anti-aging products is that when one wants to be clean or wants to return to the year of
youth, he or she would want it done quickly and thoroughly. It is not difficult to
understand now why there are so dramatic difference in choice of words between the
texts describing the quality of skin and the texts describing the working process of the
product.
2.2.2 Illogical and Vague Words
Some words in this group are illogically used, contradictory to the fact. Some
may seem quite all right, but after a second thought, one may suspect there is
something wrong with it. Let's examine the following advertisements:
6) The BODY EXPERTISE range contains 10 innovative products, which provide the
ideal programmer to take your body in hand. Combining high technology with
luxurious textures, the BODY EXPERTISE range offers you a unique chance to
experience the luxuriousness of a spa treatment within your own home. (L' Oreal)
Some discourse of cosmetics advertising promises that using these products will
make you stand out. The product is promoted as an indication of your uniqueness and
personal identity. Of course, the logic of capitalism is predicated on selling as many of
the same products as possible, in order to make production more efficient. Thus, “a
beauty all your own” is shared by millions of other women. Another word which is
quite similar with “unique” is “private”.
7) Innovation: Activa-Cell. 8 days to see a perfect skin, like new. (L' Oreal)
Everyone wants the “perfect”, and probably no one would say he or she has the
perfect skin. There are two reasons. The first is that there is no such standard as what
kind of skin is perfect skin. Everyone would describe the ideal skin for him or herself
differently. The second reason is that even if one has had the perfect, he or she would
not be content with it. There is always some room for improvement, one would think.
And the saying “nothing\no one is perfect” has become kind of an absolute truth for
many people, which might be very true from the logical view. So it is how the word
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“perfect” in a cosmetic advertisement works: no one has perfect skin, and now there is
a way to help you to reach that point, which of course will never be really reached,
now, what are you waiting for?
2.3 Use of Scientific Terms
Many cosmetics companies package their products with scientific items such as
the “tested by doctor”, “cause no acne”, “hypoallergenic”, “allergic skin oriented” and
“laboratory- testified”. These terms are no more than Smokescreen, which actually is
deceptive and misleading. Because these terms lack of clear standards and definitions,
and there isn’t any legal norms to supervise them.
“Hypoallergenic”, “allergic skin oriented” mean that the products will not cause
allergies. In fact, these two terms are nonsense. Many of the products with “allergic
skin oriented” contain spices, improper ingredients of plant, Camphor oil, alcohol and
a variety of ingredients which will cause skin problems. They have no clear definition
and standards, any cosmetics companies can use these terms arbitrarily. “laboratorytestified” and “Our research shows that” do sound good, but the truth is that although
the world now has a lot of testing for cosmetics, but in comparison to all kinds of
cosmetics nowadays, testing laboratory is too limited. Some elements even have no
research to confirm their affects. Actually, the laboratory of “laboratory- testified”
often refers to a cosmetic company's own laboratory research. Such information can
not be independent and there may be various aspects of deviation in that kind of
private laboratory.
When you read the ingredient label on the back of the product, you will come
across a lot of scientific terms. With a quick glance at the scientific terms that appear
at the back of the cosmetic label, you can see the ingredients written in the language
of chemistry or science.
Unless one knows that one of the shampoo ingredients—methyl paraben—is a
synthetic preservation derived from a petroleum base, or that tocopherol is vitamin E,
the consumer may never be able to check the claims against the contents.
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“Chemical names are the only way ingredients can be listed because that's what
they are. Most are cosmetic formulations, but in some products, such as an underarm
deodorant that also claims to stop perspiration, the first chemical listed may be a drug
ingredient and FDA would classify the product as a drug as well as a cosmetic.
Many ingredients are marketed with trade names, but these often provide little clue to
the identity and intended use of the material. Trade names in the ingredient list could
be confusing to consumers purchasing a cosmetic because they also, would have no
way to compare similar ingredients in similar products. Some trade names include
mixtures of raw materials--for example, an ingredient could be combined with a
preservative [7].”
2.4 Use of Numbers
There exists a special kind of mathematics in advertising texts, named
“advertising mathematics” by mathematician A.K. Dewdney. Dewdney sees this as a
kind of “mathematics abuse” which aims to take advantage of the public's low level of
proficiency in mathematics by manipulating numbers and statistics in their
advertisements. While the mathematics “abuse” that takes place in cosmetics
advertising certainly does not seem up to the rigor of a mathematician, the second part
of Dewdney's assumption is less clearly understood by the public. After examining the
data, this thesis tentatively categorize the use of numbers in cosmetic advertisements
into three types:
(1) The first type offered by numbers in these advertisements is used to describe
the quality of the cosmetic product where excessive decimal numbers add semantic
weight or impact to a claim.
8) 100% Fragrance Free. (Clinique)
9) Advances Night Repair neutralises up to 90% of skin-damaging free radicals.
(Estee Lauder)
(2) A second type of quantification that occurs in advertising texts is the
Time-Result Quantification. They whether predict the after-use effect or state the
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ultimate result as a proven fact that can be applied to every single consumer
regardless of each individual's skin or body quality.
10) After 8 days, the transformation is visible: skin is radiant, smoother and
softer. After 30 days, the youthful effect is spectacular: skin is firmer, signs of
time/signs of aging fade away. (Christian Dior)
11) See softer, smoother skin in 1 day, younger looking skin in just 1 week
(L'Oreal Future)
(3) The third type is statistics of opinion. In matters of public persuasion, polls
are the most frequently used rhetorical instrument. Similar to the quantification texts,
statistics of opinion often use number and percentages to quantify subjective opinion
thereby increasing the rhetorical impact by imparting objectivity.
12) Within 8 weeks, see a 25% increase in firmness, 38% reduction in the
appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. (Estee Lauder Resilience)
13) In user trials for Firming Anti-Cellulite Cram conducted on volunteer
panelists, 85% saw a vement in their skin tone in two weeks. (Lancome)
This “mathematics abuse” has drawn considerable interest from researchers in
the recent past. Mathematical and scientific language can be analyzed to reveal its
persuasive qualities. Additionally, scientific and mathematical rhetoric are persuasive
in a myriad of ways and contexts outside the context of academia or the laboratory.
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3 Ideology
Analyzed from the perspective of ideology, this chapter aims to answer two
questions: (1) what is the ideology, and (2) How does ideology influence the
consumer's interpretation. But first of all, the notion of ideology and its characteristics
will be defined with Van Dijk's theory.
3.1 The Definition of Ideology
In his article Ideology and Discourse Analysis, Teun A. van Dijk summaries
characteristics that ideology possesses:
“Firstly, whatever else ideologies are, they are primarily some kind of ‘ideas’,
that is, belief systems. This implies, among other things, that ideologies, as such, do
not contain the ideological practices or societal structures that are based on them. It
also implies that a theory of ideology needs a cognitive component that is able to
properly account for the notions of “belief” and “belief system,” for instance as these
are dealt with in contemporary cognitive science.
Secondly, just as there are no private languages, there are no private, personal
ideologies. Hence these belief systems are socially shared by the members of a
collectivity of social actors. However, not any collectivity develops or needs an
ideology, and it will be argued that this is only the case for some kinds of group which
are typically so in relation to other groups and not for instance for communities, such
as cultural, national or linguistic communities.
Thirdly, ideologies are not any kind of socially shared beliefs, such as
sociocultural knowledge or social attitudes, but more fundamental or axiomatic. They
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control and organize other socially shared beliefs. Hence, ideologies are foundational
social beliefs of a rather general and abstract nature. One of their cognitive functions
is to provide (ideological) coherence to the beliefs of a group and thus facilitate their
acquisition and use in everyday situations. Among other things, ideologies also
specify what general cultural values (freedom, equality, justice, etc.) are relevant for
the group.
Fourthly, as the sociocognitive foundation of social groups, ideologies are
gradually acquired and (sometimes) changed through life or a life period, and hence
need to be relatively stable. One does not become a pacifist, feminist, racist or
socialist overnight, nor does one change one's basic ideological outlook in a few days.
Many experiences and discourses are usually necessary to acquire or change
ideologies. The often observed variability of ideological opinions of group members,
thus, should be accounted for at the personal or contextual level, and is no ground to
reject the notion of a shared, stable group ideology [8].”
Sometimes, ideologies become shared so widely that they seem to have become
part of the generally accepted attitudes of an entire community, as obvious beliefs or
opinion, or common sense. “Thus, much of what today are widely accepted as social
or human rights, such as many forms of gender equality, were and are ideological
beliefs of the feminist or socialist movements. In that sense, and by definition, these
beliefs thus lose their ideological nature as soon as they become part of the Common
Ground [9].”
3.2 How Ideology Influences Cosmetic Customers
As mentioned above, there are no private, personal ideologies. “The ideology is a
view of a group with common interests, such as a country, a political party, a social or
economic class, a professional group and an industry
[10]
.” The statement used in
cosmetic advertisements to create a common cognition of the consumers is called
ideological statement here, and this common cognition is a kind of ideology. The main
purpose of ideological statements in cosmetic advertisements is to convince
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consumers of the merits of the products and to further persuade consumers into
buying the cosmetic products. In all, we can find at least three specific ways to
achieve this object.
First, transposition, that is to say, advertising introduces products from the
consumer's position instead of the producers’. In fact, advertising represents a
relationship of interests. It always represents the interests of the commodity
producers’ and sellers’. The interests comes directly from the consumers, and high
interests can only make consumers off. From this point, consumers and producers are
in a conflicting relationship. “The strategy of advertising is to claim that it always
represents the interests of consumers, using various means to seek the consumer’s
recognition of the product [11].” Advertisements usually advocate the benefits brought
to consumers instead of mentioning the benefits gained by the producer. This is the
commonest ideological statement in advertisements.
The second ideological statement is in a more subtle way which aims to convince
consumers by the use of objective narration. This way generally combines the
advertised products with the problems in reality. This goes beyond economic relations
between the producer and the consumer and concludes consumers and producers as a
unified “we”. “We” are facing a common problem, and “we” will find a solution to
the problem together.
The third ideological statement in advertising is to bring in authority. The
advertising of products often uses the universal concept wildly accepted by people as
the reliable evidence of the product .In cosmetic advertisements, it is the commonest
to invite superstars to introduce the product because the superstars are our idols. They
are authorities in the fashion industry and if they say that the product is good, then
why do we hesitate?
From the above analysis, it is manifested that the ideology of contemporary
consumer culture confines cosmetic consumers to particular ways of thinking about
themselves, about their identities and their positions of power within society.
Cosmetics connote beauty in our culture. Cosmetics create different looks and women
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believe they can change their image by using a specific kind of cosmetics. The
advertisement works with the convention shared by society that make-up enhances
beauty.
Conclusion
In this thesis, the scope of the Critical Discourse Analysis is restricted to
cosmetic advertisements. This Critical Discourse Analysis of the misleading cosmetic
advertisements is carried out from two perspectives: genre and ideology.
The part of genre is divided in to four parts. The first part analyzes the structure
of this kind of text. The rest three parts in this chapter analyzes the linguistic features
such as the vocabulary, the use of scientific items and the use of numbers in this
particular genre. These two parts are supposed to answer the following two questions:
(1) from what perspectives do cosmetic advertisements mislead consumers; (2) why
can the cosmetic advertisements have such a great influence on the consumers.
The part of ideology is made of two parts. The first part gives definitions of
ideology. The second part analyses how ideology influences cosmetic customers. In
this part of ideology, the analysis is carried out to find out what is the consumers'
ideology like and what role does ideology play in the process of consumer.
This article aims to help the reader or potential customer to see through or to be
alert to the misleading or deceptive language used in cosmetic advertisements by
examining the use of the language and the reason why it has been used that way.
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A Critical Discourse Analysis on
Cosmetic Advertisements
Acknowledgements
I would like to express my gratitude to all those who helped me during the
writing of this thesis. A special acknowledgement should be shown to Mr. Zeng
from whose advices I benefited greatly. I am particularly indebted to Miss. Deng,
who gave me kind encouragement and useful instructions all through my writing.
Finally I wish to extend my thanks to the library assistants who supplied me with
reference materials of great value.
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