Maybelline Flashcards
- What is the name of the Maybelline advert that we study?
- When was it created?
- Why was the campaign so significant?
- “That Boss Life” for the Maybelline ‘Big Shot Mascara’
- 2017
- 1st time Maybelline used a male brand ambassador and digital influencers.
- Why did Maybelline use digital influencers for the advert?
- Why was the choice of Manny MUA in particular so significant?
- Use of YouTube stars Manny Gutierrez and Shayla Mitchell means brand can reach their combined 5.1 million Instagram followers and 2.5 million YouTube subscribers.
- Mexican-Spanish-American
- Openly gay
- Male
- Mexican-Spanish-American
Narrative structure of the Maybelline advert
- Conventional narrative structure, follows Todorov’s Equilibrium. Mascara used to make their life more glamorous.
- Signifies adventure genre as when they open the suitcase, it seems like a treasure chest.
Cinematography: Camera shots and movement
- Extreme close ups of eye when applying the makeup- convention in both print and broadcast adverts.
- Mid-shot when they turn into glamorous figures
Significance of the Bell Boy
- Trend w/gender politics- represents someone from outside of beauty influencer wrld yet still has interest in product as seen later -subverts classic male stereotypes.
- Conforms to trad. beauty standards for industry and is designed to appeal to wide female audience (female gaze)
Significance of the Gold suitcase ideology
- Intertextual link to Slumdog Millionaire, Pulp Fiction, Scrooge McDuck
- Like a treasure chest, implying mascara is valuable treasure.
Significance of the mascara itself in the advert
- Amount of gold mascara, w/gold case and packaging adds hyperbolised idea of luxury, excess
- ‘Big Shot Mascara’ connotes ideas of success and wealth
- Whole ad portrays mascara wand as actual wand which gives intertextual link to fairy godmother due to transition
Mise-en-scene: Costume and Props
- From dull + boring clothes to gold and prestige clothing
- Gold suitcase seen as a treasure chest where we then later discover that it’s their mascara.
- Room transformed gold, plant went gold. Emphasising the fact that the mascara will make your life look better.
Mise-en-scene: setting
New York: skyline, glamour, excitement, denotes home of the brand
Mise-en-scene: light
- Darker, more intimate lighting after transition- closer w/audience
- Bright daylight before change suggest mundane daily life
Mise-en-scene: colour
- Gold after transition + gold suitcase and mascara connote wealth, riches, luxurious lifestyle
- Black dress and black dinner jacket combined with gold further emphasises luxury
- White room + t-shirts suggest blandness b4 change
Editing: Slo-motion editing
Slo-mo used when throwing mascara in air from bed- common idea of abundance most often shown with paper money or gold bars. Shows product in all its glory, emphasizes pair ‘rolling around’ in their wealth.
Editing: Pace, transitions and visual effects
- Jump cuts when putting on mascara and when getting the luggage; beauty vlogs- hybridity of ad
- Time lapse when bell boy comes in the room- vlogs
- Lots of sparkles- anchorage for presenting mascara as magic wand
- At 1 point gold suitcase takes up entire frame
Graphics of Maybelline That Boss Life
- Gold font to represent glamour
- Urban text to target a young, urban audience
Sound: dialogue, music and sound effects
- Glistening sound effect- anchors message of magic wand to mascara; products shine like glitter and gold
- Upbeat music to appeal to a youth audience
- Manny presented as camp (Tessa Perkins)
- “Let’s get boss’d up” references title
