Advertisers use a number of methods of making appeals to consumers in advertisements. Appeals can be rational or emotional, altruistic or hedonistic, positive or negative or a variety of other characteristics. Clinique Laboratories, Inc., offers a line of skin care and cosmetics to the public through advertisements in diverse media. A recent Clinique print advertisement will be the subject of this argument, one that advertises the companyÆs newest skin care product, Clinique Total Turnaround Visible Skin Renewer. The advertisement relies on text and images that promote an emotional-hedonistic appeal to consumers.
The text in the Clinique Renewer advertisement represents both a hedonistic and emotional appeal. The text in the advertisement reads, ôA new beginning for all skin.ö The emotional appeal stems from the underlying promise that no matter what type of skin a consumer may have, Clinique Renewer will provide it with a ônew beginning.ö Emotional appeals are purposefully constructed into advertisements to help undermine any rational resistance in consumers to purchasing a product. The promise of new skin is highly appealing on the emotional level to many consumers. One copywriter maintains that without emotional appeals, an advertisement is not worth the paper on which it is written, ôEmotion is the most powerful and motivating technique a copywriter can use. The writer has to find an emotional mind before a single word of motivating copy is writtenö (Westphal 66).
The text in the Clinique advertisement conveys an explicit and implicit promise. The text contains an explicit message that the Renewer will work on ôallö skin, while conveying an implicit message that youthful appearance can be restored from its use. The text works on both the hedonistic and emotional levels because it promises youth and healthy, youthful looking skin. Even the word ôRenewerö promises renewed
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