Media #11: Pantene

This is an advertisement for Pantene Expert hair care collection, which I found in a people magazine- a magazine often read by women searching for the secret to great hair like Courtney Cox has. My eye was immediately drawn to the enlarged, and apparently glowing number 10. I was then naturally curious as to why the number 10 was there so I read the phrase, “Hair that acts 10 years younger. Then I saw Courtney Cox, who is infamous for acting younger than she is, and her lustrous locks in the background and I drew the connection, which made me laugh. This made me feel better about the product, which I assume is Pantene’s goal.

My problem with this advertisement is that it is too wordy. Advertisements like this- for hair products, make-up etcetera do not really need that much explanation in my opinion- they are what they are. Maybe a simple phrase like “age defy” or “pro-vitamins and caffeine” or “expert secret” would do, but this ad put all of this and more into one small rectangle making my eye jump all over the place when really all I need to see is Courtney Cox’s hair in order to receive the message.

Courtney Cox’s presence demonstrates the advertiser’s use of the testimonial technique. This makes people think that because a celebrity uses Pantene then it must be good. It also uses the magic ingredient technique in that it talks about and “expert secret” which Pantene knows about, a can automatically make you look like Courtney Cox or all of the other celebrities who know “the expert secret.” This consequently appeals to my need to satisfy curiosity because I want to see what the “expert secret” is and whether or not it makes me look like Courtney Cox.