Testimonials in Advertising
By: Abygale Henneberry
So often we turn on the television and watch commercial after commercial that include a spokesperson for the product such as Justin Long for Apple, Jennifer Hudson for Weight Watchers, Carrie Underwood for Got Milk?, and so many more. Advertising via testimonials is a company’s ability to portray an image of a product by associating a celebrity’s face and capitalizing on that star’s reputation by tying it to their own product. This is seen daily in almost all television and print advertising as well as political elections. Within the past few years, there have been several noteworthy companies that play off of these techniques, such as Covergirl, Macy’s, Sketcher’s, and Ford.
In 2009 Covergirl released a new line of advertisements featuring talk show host and comedian, Ellen DeGeneres. The advertisements play off her humor and present the makeup in a fun, yet factual, way. In the commercial below, Ellen begins by asking why models always look so mad. She follows up the question by answering herself – it’s because they pay so much for department store makeup! The commercial proceeds to tell the benefits of Covergirl’s Age Defying makeup as Ellen is shown pretending she’s mad strutting around modeling for cameras impersonating common makeup models. Having Ellen represent Covergirl is effective in many ways. First, it brings a fun life to the Age Defying makeup – achieving the goal of representing it as giving you a young cheerful look. Secondly, with the many Ellen fans of all ages, it promotes Covergirl through Ellen reaching out to a new group of fans. By putting a face such as Ellen’s – someone youthful, lively, and exciting, it presents the perfect image for an age defying product.
In 2009 Covergirl released a new line of advertisements featuring talk show host and comedian, Ellen DeGeneres. The advertisements play off her humor and present the makeup in a fun, yet factual, way. In the commercial below, Ellen begins by asking why models always look so mad. She follows up the question by answering herself – it’s because they pay so much for department store makeup! The commercial proceeds to tell the benefits of Covergirl’s Age Defying makeup as Ellen is shown pretending she’s mad strutting around modeling for cameras impersonating common makeup models. Having Ellen represent Covergirl is effective in many ways. First, it brings a fun life to the Age Defying makeup – achieving the goal of representing it as giving you a young cheerful look. Secondly, with the many Ellen fans of all ages, it promotes Covergirl through Ellen reaching out to a new group of fans. By putting a face such as Ellen’s – someone youthful, lively, and exciting, it presents the perfect image for an age defying product.
Macy’s released a commercial around the Christmas holiday time that incorporated MANY testimonials. The commercial begins with a woman asking a sales clerk for a pair of high heels in a different size. The sales clerk, who is famous actor/singer, Val Emmich, heads to the back room, and walks past Tommy Hilfiger pushing in a rack of clothing. He then breezes past Martha Stewart in the kitchen section, making conversation in passing with both of them. As he proceeds to get the woman’s shoes, Jessica Simpson runs past laughing as he approaches Jennifer Lopez sampling some of her new perfume line. The camera keeps moving by Sean Combs (also known as P. Diddy) and sees Donald Trump working on blueprints, Rachel Roy tending to packages, and finally back to Jessica Simpson who gives him the proper size of shoe for the woman in the store. The testimonials in this commercial strongly represent Macy’s appeal of having so many top level designer’s merchandise under one roof. The faces not only become a representation of Macy’s, but they also represent all the clothing, shoe, house wares, and cosmetic lines that Macy’s is proud to carry. By including these celebrities in the commercial, it induces a feeling of quality towards the Macy’s store because of all the famous brands that Macy’s carries. It presents an image of Macy’s that it’s one-stop shopping. You can be as stylish as Tommy Hilfiger, Donald Trump, Sean Combs, Rachel Roy and Jessica Simpson, smell as lovely as Jennifer Lopez, cook as deliciously as Martha Stewart, and achieve all of this simply by shopping at Macy’s.
During the 2011 Super Bowl, Sketchers aired a commercial featuring Kim Kardashian modeling their new line of Sketchers Shape Ups – shoes that are intended to tone your butt and legs during daily exercise. In the commercial, Kim Kardashian is dressed in very revealing sexy workout clothes breaking up with who appears to be her personal trainer. She tells him that he’s amazing – the best she’s ever had, but that she doesn’t need him anymore because of her new shoes, Sketchers Shape Ups. By implying that these shoes are as good as a personal trainer, and will induce the same results, she is also putting her face and image on Sketchers Shape Ups. This encourages women of all ages to purchase these shoes, subconsciously feeling that these shoes will single handedly lead to a body like Kim Kardashian’s – no extra work or trainers needed. Kim Kardashian is known as a very attractive, appealing, sexy woman in the first place – so to connect that image with a shoe that is intended to produce the same results strengthens the shoe’s appeal and it’s trustworthiness. It gives the advertisement a very stable foundation.
Mike Rowe became the spokesperson for Ford in 2007 when he began appearing in many commercials for the company. Mike Rowe wasselected as the fourth most trusted celebrity in the Forbes 10 Most Trusted Celebrities article. All of his appeal as the host of dirty jobs and his rugged manliness led to him being the perfect candidate for these “Built Tough” trucks. In the commercial he is speaking with a safety engineer about the safety features of the Ford F-150 pick-up truck. The two of them speak about the difference between Ford and the “other guys” truck companies – and say that the safety of Ford is unbeatable for not only the driver but the passenger, too. By picking the host of one of the dirtiest shows on television, as well as a man who’s been voted very trustworthy, Ford enhanced it’s tough image for the pick-up trucks it’s advertising with a tough honest image.
All of the faces seen in advertising must be carefully selected when chosen to represent a product, line, or brand. The spokesperson picked to represent these companies must entail all of the characteristics that the product is being advertised for in order to leave the proper impression in viewer’s heads. For example, Sketchers Shape Ups promote a shoe that will give you sexy legs and a toned butt just by wearing them during your day-to-day routine. By Kim Kardashian, a national sex symbol, representing this, it leaves that impression in your mind. Likewise, Mike Rowe is known as a tough guy who’s willing to get down and dirty in the most unsanitary conditions. This is the exact image Ford is trying to portray with their “Built Tough” trucks. It leaves viewers under the impression that Ford’s trucks will be right there with you, reliable in the worst of conditions. Having a tough, trustworthy, rugged spokesperson is the perfect image to convey. Similarly, the Macy’s commercial enforced the same thought processes. Showing all the celebrities at work in the storeroom of Macy’s presented the image that they’re all there working on clothes, perfumes, cookware, shoes, and accessories to put out on the Macy’s floor for average shoppers to be able to rise to these celebrity standards. The commercial appeals to shoppers of all ages and both genders by presenting the male and female sides of all aspects. The strategies and techniques employed by these major companies fly right over most common consumers heads. We jump right to wondering if Sketchers Shape Ups really will give us a Kardashian body, or maybe even subconsciously commit that to fact. So what happens when you walk down the store isle and see Sketchers Shape Ups? All of the sudden the image of her sexy body comes to mind – and who wouldn’t want that? The images these commercials put into our heads will define the product subconsciously within us forever, and in turn boost their sales to record highs.
Works Cited
"Mike Rowe Ford F-150 Crash Test Ad - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaAB9RhoyJ8>.
"Ellen's New Covergirl Commercial - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F00WeXLNNsQ&feature=related>.
"Macy's Find Your Magic - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHBncVbn3sk>.
"Kim Kardashian's SKECHERS Super Bowl Commercial - Break Up 2 Shape Up - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQWG__N9so0>.
"Ellen's New Covergirl Commercial - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F00WeXLNNsQ&feature=related>.
"Macy's Find Your Magic - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHBncVbn3sk>.
"Kim Kardashian's SKECHERS Super Bowl Commercial - Break Up 2 Shape Up - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQWG__N9so0>.