Today, finding an interesting advertisement online does not take much time. People choose something interesting and surf the web to observe available options. In 2020, Garnier Company offered another bright commercial for its new hair food shampoo, saying yes to vegan and nourishing and no to added silicones and weight down (Garnier UK, 2020). It may be easily found on YouTube and used for free.
The scenario in the advertisement is not complex and includes a narration about the quality of female hair and the company’s contributions to great looks and a healthy style. There is a clear “yes-no” strategy to what the product can and cannot bring to the customer. The Ultimate Blends line has been improved with several food options for different types of hair (Garnier UK, 2020). Several shampoos are advertised, with special attention to such audiences as women of a young age, all races, and hair color preferences. These females are pretty and confident and use their hair as a symbol of power and pride. The identification of this customer segment may be explained by the presence of several women who demonstrate different styles and hairstyles.
In addition to a properly chosen audience and colors, the strength of the chosen advertisement is its main claim. The authors underline the importance of using natural origins to nourish hangry hair (Garnier UK, 2020). To prove the credibility of this idea, several statistical facts are given during the advertisement and at the bottom, 75% of 58 agree or 98% of natural origin (Garnier UK, 2020). Advertisements play an important role in everyday life, and the task of potential stakeholders is to strengthen the message and use all available resources (Bai, 2018). In this case, Garnier uses definite and intriguing vocabulary, like adjectives, metaphors, and parallelism. Bai (2018) also recommends adding rhymes and alliteration to show the position of the company and its main features. When people repeat phrases or facts from the advertisement, it means they trust and are interested in the offered material.
At the same time, the advertisement has several weaknesses, the analysis of which should help avoid the same mistakes in the future. Garnier UK (2020) uses fast speed to introduce new aloe vera, banana, papaya, and watermelon formulas. It is hard for a person to learn all products and memorize information to ensure their choice’s correctness. Despite simple language and brief sentences, the monologue is fast, and not all individuals get enough time to process the claim.
Despite the existing shortages, the authors introduce powerful rhetorical strategies to sell the product to the audience. The pun is one of the ways to apply several meanings to the same word and achieve the desired rhetorical function (Bai, 2018). The current advertisement introduces hair as hangry, and bananas or other fruits nourish hair to the required extent. Instead of treating hair as something insignificant or dependent, the advertisement underlines its strength and uses pathos to prove the correctness of its vision.
Finally, to improve the quality of a commercial, authors can rely on cognitive biases and promote some emotions and actions. These biases usually exist in people, and advertisers use them to affect the consumer and increase their abilities. In Garnier’s situation, a confirmation bias attracts attention because people confirm their pre-existing belief that their hair needs help. In-group favoritism, the vegan idea, is also present in advertisements to find people with specific tastes and gain more profits.
In general, Garnier’s advertisement meets most standards of an effective and interesting commercial. In addition to a properly developed claim and a well-defined audience, advertisers make use of rhetorical functioning and cognitive biases to support clients with their choice. Instead of comparing or proving the quality or effects of the shampoo, Garnier narrates and describes the new aspects of their product with the help of puns, pathos, and favoritism.
References
Bai, Z. (2018). The characteristics of the language in cosmetic advertisements. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 8(7), 841-847. Web.
Garnier UK. (2021). New hair food shampoo by Garnier Ultimate Blends / 2021 TV Ad [Video]. YouTube. Web.