This is an ad from Benefit Cosmetics, which is a newer up and coming brand focusing mainly on a millennial consumer base. Their ads and products are known for being somewhat over the top and out there however I had a big problem with this ad. This ad did not need much jamming in my opinion because when I saw it, I thought it already was a culture jam. Essentially telling young girls that they cannot leave the house without putting makeup on is just a confirmation of the issue in society of self-esteem and body issues. It puts a fear in women that when they wake up, all of their flaws are visible and the first thing in the morning, they need to cover them all up. It is so important that the ad says, “Skip class NOT concealer.” It is so common in society to put this view in women’s heads, that they aren’t good enough. They are imposing a stress to prioritize things like beauty over education, which is the biggest problem here. It may be a joke, but the ad does not come across in that way. Body confidence and self esteem is such a big issue in today’s society and these ads are not helping. Bringing new levels of self-depreciation to young women, and older women alike.
When culture jamming this ad, I found that there was not much I could do except to truly exemplify what the ad itself says. The ad was blatant to begin with, claiming you should not go to school without covering up your dark eyes, and blemishes. I wanted to demonstrate the scare tactic used, by putting the words “DO NOT SHOW YOUR FACE,” in bold and capitalize to put it blatantly what the ad is invoking in the viewers mind. Essentially, the ad is trying to draw women into buying their product with scare tactics, making them think they are not beautiful enough to leave the house without this product on their face. Self-esteem is already a major issue in society, and putting extra strain on women with this ad I believe was spiteful. In the end, however, to advertise beauty products, it will always seem skewed and aimed to point out flaws. Advertisements in the beauty industry in general are like this and I have yet to see an ad that shows something different. The one thing about this ad is that it tells women to cover themselves up, instead of making their natural beauty stand out. I find that their approach is not fair to women, telling them that they must cover themselves up, as it will just bring up more and more body issues in our society.
Reference:
https://www.cosmeticsbusiness.com/news/article_page/Benefit_Cosmetics_slammed_by_consumers_for_skip_class_not_concealer_advert/131288