Publicus Zurich 2014, Hide Yesterday, Meet the Parents, online

image, Adsoftheworld, viewed 21 August 2014, <

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/

print/garnier_hide_yesterday_meet_the_parents>

L’Oreal’s advertising agency Publicus Zurich in

Switzerland launched a print advertisement campaign

during February 2014 for Garnier’s youthful radiance

caffeine eye roll-on. This product, designed to remove

under-eye bags for a refreshed look was targeted at a

young adult demographic. The campaign consisted of four

different print advertisements. Using the semiotic model,

this essay will analyse one of the advertisements in the

campaign titled “Meet the parents.” It argues that

Garnier is exploiting the hegemonic ideology of late

postmodernist youth culture and the myth of Western

beauty and social stratification to appeal to its target

demographic. The use of slender, Caucasian models

reinforces the myth of European beauty and

exceptionalism. The luxurious setting evokes a desire for

upward social mobility. By comparing a drunken version of

the man to a refreshed, awake version highlights this

product’s social significance and increases its exchange

value.

The advertisement encodes the myth of European

superiority and beauty through the selection of models,

positioning viewers to aspire to mimic the idealized

beauty. Saussure defined signs as the combination of two

aspects, the material component of the signifier and

signified concept (Saussure 1966, p. 67). The iconic sign

of the Caucasian family signifies Western beauty. The

arbitrary relationship between signifier and signified

(Farmer 2003, p.16) can be explained by denotation and

connotation (Chandler, 2014). This advertisement denotes

a man meeting his parent in-laws, the models connoting

elegance and beauty. Ideologies, a network of ideas in

cultures that shape a person’s view of reality (Farmer

2003, p.17), have interpellated readers to associate

specific meanings with signs (Althusser, cited by Farmer

2003, p.20-22). Barthes claimed myths to be everyday

sites where ideology is exercised (cited by Farmer 2003,

p.23). The myth of racial superiority and beauty presents

the models as idealized beauties in most European and

colonized countries. Gramsci established hegemony as the

process of forming and organizing consent by a dominant

class (cited by Ives 2004, p.2). European beauty,

influenced by white exceptionalism became a hegemonic

concept during the European colonial period between the

fifteenth and twentieth century. Europeans were

considered civilised and superior over the natives of

their conquered lands, establishing the concept of white

supremacy. Despite the modern notion of racial equality

white superiority is still embedded in society. This

advertisement exploits this hegemonic myth by utilizing

stereotypically beautiful European models. The reader

both admires and aspires to mimic their appearance. By

implying the product can enhance the consumer’s beauty,

this advertisement endows the product with social

significance and ability to function as an indexical sign

of the consumer’s beauty (Bignell 2002, p.36). Marx

proposed commodity fetishism to explain how commodities

embody meaning far beyond their practicality (cited by

Perlman 2012, p.13-14). The quasi-magical quality of

beauty immediately increases this product’s exchange

value in the capitalist market. Advertisements require

the use of myths, signs and ideology already in

circulation in society in order for the audience to be

able to decode the message (Bignell 2002, p.31).

Therefore Garnier has used the concepts of European

dominance and beauty for the audience to decode and

attribute beauty to this product’s social significance.

In this advertisement, the hegemonic ideology of social

hierarchy interpellates readers to desire higher social

standing. Social stratification has been present since

ancient civilization to maintain order and distribute

roles (Bernadi, Gonzalez and Requena 2011, p.164).

Certain commodities are then attributed to specific

classes. European castles of royalty during the Middle

Ages and Renaissance era have inspired the architecture

and furnishing of the room in this advertisement, and

together with the models’ fashion connote royalty, wealth

and superiority. The expansion of shopping as leisure

activity in advanced capitalism gave rise to conspicuous

consumption (Martin 2003, p.104), which Veblen defines as

consumption becoming a method of expressing status in a

social hierarchy (Veblen 1899, p.40). Pertierra and

Turner contended that the working class could improve

social standing through wage earning, or alternatively

engage in practices that are usually associated with

higher classes (Pertierra and Turner 2012, p.91). Here,

viewers are encouraged to believe the product can create

opportunities for upward social mobility. The desire for

wealth and class increases the product’s exchange value.

Consumers will therefore purchase this product to reflect

their sense of identity as refined, classy individuals.

The reader views the young man’s hectic partying as

exciting and enviable. The denotation of the man in a

queue of compromising situations involving alcohol and

inappropriate behaviour connotes alcohol abuse, partying

and unprofessional conduct. Whilst alcohol has been

always present in Western society, The Institute of

Alcohol Studies suggests modern youth alcohol culture was

developed during late capitalism in the seventies and

eighties (The Institute of Alcohol Studies 2000, p.3).

Coffield and Gofton proposed beer and pubs were

traditionally for the industrial working class men (cited

by The Institute of Alcohol Studies 2000, p.3), but in

the eighties the brewing industry began to target youths,

who were developing new leisure routines. There was a

demand for a diversity of interesting alcoholic drinks,

and the need for ‘quick fixes’ as youth enjoyed the

effects of heavy intoxication and ‘getting high’ (The

Institute of Alcohol Studies 2000, p.3-4). Over time, the

ideology of youth culture was naturalised and become

hegemonic in modern society. The reader, desiring an

equally exciting life as the young man depicted may

decode the product as having the ability to provide joy

and exhilaration. This positions the consumer to ‘buy

into’ the quasi-magical qualities of this product rather

than its practicality. The next section will therefore

discuss how Garnier utilises a contrasting situation to

encode its message.

The young man’s refreshed appearance the next morning

highlights the product’s social significance. The young

couple’s body language signifies an intimate

relationship, connoting marriage and love. The hegemonic

ideology of traditional marriage often denotes the

monogamous union of a man and woman. Anthropologists have

traced the existence of long-term relationships back to

the Agriculturalist era, 21,000 BCE. (Adshade and Kaiser

2008, p.3). Historically, many unions were arranged by

families for economic advantage, eventually naturalising

parents’ permission as a hegemonic marriage custom

(Peterson 1997). The audience as ideological subjects

empathise with the man’s need to impress his parents in-

law and ‘hide yesterday.’ Garnier has used several time-

lapse photos of the man becoming heavily intoxicated as

indexical signs of ‘yesterday’ and compared them to a

refreshed version of the man presumably ‘today.’ Signs

are often polysemic, advertisers can limit the polysemy

or alternatively exploit the ambiguity (Bignell 2002,

p.32). Barthes argues restriction of polysemy is often

achieved through the use of linguistic signs to ‘anchor’

a specific meaning (cited by Bignell 2002, p.40). Garnier

has utilised the linguistic sign “hide yesterday” as a

signifier to signify the product has successfully

reinvigorated the man. The reader’s assumption the young

man should be hung-over and lethargic the morning after

is subverted by Garnier’s encoded message, therefore the

reader desires the stimulation and refreshment this

product provides. A commodity’s exchange value will

dominates its use value (Martin 2003, p.104), and

consumers utilise commodities to help fashion self-

identity (Jagose 2003, p.117). Lifestyles are produced

through consumption and here the audience is positioned

to seek a lifestyle where they can both balance leisure

and business easily through the use of this product. The

product’s use value as an under-eye dark circle remover

is surpassed by its exchange value due to its social

significance. Garnier, working within the professional

code, under the dominant-hegemonic position (Hall 2007,

p.515), encodes the message that the product can

revitalise the body and mind. Subjects operating inside

the dominant-hegemonic position will consume the

commodity believing it will revive them after a late

night, ignoring that biologically it is sleep that

revitalises the body. The iconic sign of the bottle

connotes nature and freshness through the use of green

and the sleek shape connotes simplicity and convenience.

The product therefore inherits the value of a sign

(Jagose 2003, p.117) and becomes the signifier for

refreshment and rejuvenation.

However, concepts such as subjective identity, and

ideological positions are likely to impact the audience’s

decoding of the advertisement’s message. The linguistic

signs “eyes” and “yeux” denote the location of the

product use, but the fine print and limited use of

linguistic signs makes it difficult for readers to

identify the product, causing confusion and potential

loss of consumers. Therefore a specific subjective

identity is needed in order to decode the message the

intended way (Bignell 2002, p.45), the reader must

recognise both the brand and the product as an eye roll-

on. The reader’s position also affects the decoding. In a

negotiated position, the reader acknowledges the

legitimacy of the dominant-hegemonic position but creates

individual ground rules (Hall 2007, p.516). Whilst

agreeing the product has the ability to reduce dark

under-eye circles the reader might view the complete

rejuvenation of a person as hyperbolic. If the reader

operates under an oppositional position and decodes the

message in a globally contrary way (Hall 2007, p.517)

they may dismiss this product as a ‘sham’ and

impractical. Although the product is designed for both

sexes, three out of the four advertisements in the

campaign depicted a male as the centralised figure. This

creates two issues, deterring female consumers and

appealing to a small niche market. Females unaware of

this product may assume it as masculine and refrain from

consuming. The Agriculturalist era strengthened sexual

dimorphism, males worked outside in the sun developing

darker skin tones whilst woman had paler skin (Russell

2011 p.4-5). In order to exaggerate sexual differences

females invented ways to accentuate the contrast between

pigmentation of fair skin and darker areas such as the

eyes and lips. In Europe, ancient Greek women used chalk

and lead powder to lighten faces and avoided the sun.

Pigments from crushed berries were used to stain lips and

charcoal to accentuate eyes. Cosmetics became naturalised

as a hegemonic feminine commodity and therefore men

avoided the usage to retain masculinity. During advanced

capitalism in the nineties men became a niche market for

male grooming products, however it still remains a

difficult market to appeal to (Blanchin, Chareyron and

Levert 2007, p.15-16). Therefore this advertisement may

have difficulties conveying its intended message to the

target demographic.

Although this product has a practical use-value, its

exchange value is inflated by the social significance

endowed by Garnier. Readers are positioned to envy the

aesthetically beautiful models and desire to enhance

their own beauty as well as believe the product’s ability

to completely refresh the body. Consumers will ‘buy into’

these quasi-magical properties and expect a fulfilling

life well balanced between enjoyment and work with little

sleep. Readers operating within the dominant-hegemonic

position whom decode the advertisement correctly despite

its limitations are inclined to consume this product in

hopes of fashioning this desirable lifestyle. Therefore

Garnier’s choice in signs has capitalised on the myth of

European beauty, ideology of social stratification and

modern youth alcohol culture in order to appeal to the

target demographic.

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