Many consumers are aware that they do not need makeup to survive, and it is considered quite expensive and if anything, luxury items. People have other expenses and bills to pay off and then with whatever spending money they have left, marketers want that to go toward their cosmetic products. When a new product is about to be released in the market, what happens next is companies need to find a way to put that product into the mind of the consumers, while creating a need for said product.

 Cosmetic advertisers have come up with a way to target consumers’ self esteem to get them to think that they need their products in order to become beautiful, therefore resulting in purchasing their products. For example, this practice originated back in the 1900s with one of the most famous beauty advertisements titled “The Curve of a Woman’s Arm” which was an advertisement for deodorant. Today, deodorant is a staple hygiene product that everyone uses without second question, right along with toothpaste. This was not always the case, back then deodorant was used only as a medical item and not many people believed they smelled so bad that they needed a doctor to help them. As all Marketers do, Edna Murphey, a high schooler who wanted to start her own deodorant business knew that she needed to reposition deodorant in the consumers minds to get her product into their everyday routine. She decided to put the idea of fear in every woman’s mind specifically, and make them think that they do smell bad enough where they need deodorant by going after what they cared about most, their love lives. 

The advertisement features a man and woman facing each other, she has her arm curved up and her hand is resting on his right shoulder. They are leaning close to each other and look like they are about to kiss, until the smell of her underarms ruin the moment. He walks away, clearly disgusted, and leaves her all alone. The advertisement goes on to say that perspiration is a “A frank discussion of a subject too often avoided”, which implies to the readers that they are offending others with their underarm smell without even realizing it. This style of advertising is known as “shame advertising”. The main purpose is to make the reader feel bad about themselves and make it appear that the only solution to feeling better is using their product. Looking like the model on the advertisement is the “ultimate goal” of the Social Comparison Theory which was founded by American psychologist Leon Festinger. This theory states that “the idea that there is a drive within individuals to look to outside images in order to evaluate their own opinions and abilities”(Festinger). It is in human nature to constantly be comparing ourselves to other people, typically those who are “above us” because we believe that the way they look is realistic and attainable. Once we look like those who we compare ourselves to, then we fit into the elite status they hold as well as feel better about ourselves. 

When women read the advertisement for deodorant and saw what women went through because she smelled bad, the fear of the heartbreak they could face as well as the rest of society viewing them as smelling bad, caused women to feel insecure about themselves. The human need to compare themselves to others, happens in the subconscious, which is also where 95% of all buying decisions are made. So marketers use this to their advantage because humans don’t even realize that they think this way so it comes automatically to them. They started comparing themselves to those who smelled good and believed that if they bought the product, they would fit in with the higher status that they hold. They then develop a need for the deodorant and unless they have it, they will have this ongoing thought that they are not good enough because they don’t smell good. Once they purchase the deodorant, the unmet need for fitting in and having high self esteem would be satisfied, and therefore the marketers would complete their goal by creating and satisfying an unmet need which satisfies their target demographic. Specifically, this advertisement resulted in deodorant sales increasing by 112% and becoming an everyday item years later. 

For years advertisements have shown tall, thin, fair skinned women with virtually clear skin which leaves those who do not look like that to compare themselves with the people they see in the advertisements and believe that look to be the standard of beauty. For those who do have low self esteem, it is more likely that it can develop into something more serious. The University College of London did a study on how your brain maps out self-esteem, starting from the time you were a child, the study resulted in finding that “Low self-esteem is a vulnerability factor for numerous psychiatric problems including eating disorders, anxiety disorders and depression”. When women, or young girls in particular are exposed to these advertisements that purposely try and make them feel worse about themselves, it can affect their self esteem as a child, and that can then carry on into adulthood. When there is cosmetic advertising aimed at women of any age, there is a higher chance that more women will grow up dealing with mental health issues and eating disorders than ever before. It is a company’s job as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility to try and always make ethical decisions to enhance society as a whole while making a profit. These forms of advertisements need to change as making customers feel worse about themselves in order to get them to spend their money is not ethical. Businesses should consider their consumers’ feelings and begin to create advertisements that send the message that everyone is beautiful and that the “beauty standard” does not exist. If more brands begin to adopt this practice then women everywhere will stop comparing themselves to the models that have unrealistically air-brushed skin and start to appreciate their own natural beauty. 

        Martin, Mary & Kennedy, Patricia. (1993). Advertising and social comparison:              Consequences for female preadolescents and adolescents. Psychology and Marketing. 10. 513 – 530. 10.1002/mar.4220100605. 

             Festinger, L. (1957). Social comparison theory. Selective Exposure Theory, 16.
Beauty Redefined: How Beautubers and Influencers Changed the Industry. (2020, March 5). HASTAC. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.hastac.org/blogs/meaganspeich/2020/03/05/beauty-redefined-how-beautubers-and-influencers-changed-industry