Vanessa Hudgens 2011 Neutrogena Commercial
Old School 1995 Neutrogena Commercial
I chose to focus on Neutrogena for my first blog post. There are many different products that are included in the Neutrogena brand such as hair products, hand soap, lotion, face wash and much more. I have been a faithful consumer of Neutrogena face wash since I was a kid. I thought it would be interesting to look into the company a little bit more and see how they go about advertising and keep up their appearance in a competitive cosmetic industry.
The two clips above were found on You Tube. The first is a more recent commercial featuring Vanessa Hudgens. It is only 15 seconds long but it works and covers some of the things that we have talked about in class. The commercial is very simple and right to the point about what they are trying to sell. Right off the bat Vanessa Hudgens brings up the question of what is wrong with “real acne cleansers.” This way of advertising was brought up in the documentary that we watched. This commercial makes you think that all other acne cleansers are not as good as Neutrogena because they smell different. I am sure that other face washes don’t smell that terrible, but Neutrogena does a good job of making pink grapefruit smelling face wash sound better than the face wash that you have at the moment. Neutrogena also used an attractive young actress to convey this information.
The second clip from You Tube is a Neutrogena commercial from 1995 starring Martha Quinn (she was one of the first voice jockeys on MTV when it first came out in the 1980’s.) The commercial is 32 seconds long rather than a short 15. What I found interesting is that after 16 years Neutrogena uses the same strategy for commercials. They use a young woman that is popular or familiar with most people at the time and tell their audience that other face washes just don’t do the trick like Neutrogena. Obviously this advertising tactic has been very successful since the 80’s when Neutrogena started to blossom into a bigger company.
The name Neutrogena stems from a soap that was invented in the 1950’s. It was one of the first soaps that rinsed off fast and easily with no soap residue. When Neutrogena was trying to establish themselves as a real competitor in the retail and cosmetic world they used strategic ways to assure they would always be profitable. An example of this would be in 1981 when the company started to employ salespeople to promote and pass out free samples of Neutrogena face wash and hand soap to dermatologists’ offices and luxury hotels. This way they would be noticed by the public in a format different than the all too familiar TV and magazines. Neutrogena also priced their products in the middle of high end cosmetics and face creams and cheaper off brand products. In the beginning their products were exclusively sold at drugstores. Not at grocery stores or big chain department stores like the products are now. I think that this was a major help in getting the product popularity. It gives the impression of a more sophisticated brand like Clinique or Lancôme but without the price tag attached to it. Consumers also have the idea that they are classier than the person next to them that is buying a generic brand.
The documentary that we watched in class has some good points on how advertising gives us as consumer’s false reality and makes their audience feel like they are not beautiful enough without products like, for example, what Neutrogena sells. I feel that Neutrogena has done a good job at not objectifying women but simply putting an idea out there that says their products smell better or will make a woman feel cleaner. And they use simplicity and creativity very wisely in the 15 second commercial that I posted. I am a person that believes that advertising is mostly a good thing and is beneficial to consumers. Companies like Neutrogena that defeat their challenges in advertisements tastefully and can have just as big of an impact as a company that uses risqué images or sexual innuendoes are the reason why I want to be a part of the advertising world.
Neutrogena Information : http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Neutrogena-Corporation-Company-History.html , You Tube
