“Touch and be touched”

When watching television or flipping through a magazine, coming across many advertisements is part of the big whole. We live in a society where after watching a 60 second commercial, or even looking at a photo of Kate Moss modeling the new lipstick for Revlon, we automatically feel the need to buy. Commercials are essential to watching anything on television. The seller is trying to persuade the viewer that you will need this advertisement and this is the way to get it. Same goes with reading magazines, Cosmopolitan is a famous magazine all over the nation. Young teens to women are constantly talking about it or reading through it. Cosmopolitan differs from “sex and love” to “How to make a guy want you in 10 days by using this product”, whatever the headline is on the cover with enormous bold letters, it is trying to intrigue the costumer.
Brands such as NIVEA, a skin based product that was discovered in 1911 is still being soled till this day. Their trademark “touch and be touched” causes somewhat a controversy. Who is one to say that you will need this product in order to feel the need to touch and be touched? Why should these products reflect on how you are going to feel on the outside? Can any lotion or chap-stick make your body more moisturized and lips more tender, that do not have the same trademark as “touch and be touched”?, the answer is yes, they certainly can.
Trademarking a product is for the consumer to be compelled in what you are trying to sell, but there are different ways to promote without promoting promiscuousness. An interesting statement that Sut Jhally noted, “Several examples of how corporations carefully train us to “need” certain things, based on what they know of us. He sets out to “excavate the origins of our most celebrated rituals”. (Jhally & This statement is defining our society today. When looking at the advertising they make us feel the need to need whatever they are trying to sell. Corporations think that selling “sexy” is what everyone wants. But some just look beyond that.
When flipping through many ads and while watching different commercials, I wanted to display the NIVEA“A kiss of smoothness” chap-stick. In this ad in a Cosmopolitan magazine, there is a photo of a man and a woman coming close enough to touch lips. Why does a certain chap-stick have to be used in order to be kissed? This is their way of trying to get the consumer to need this product by advertising it in a sexual, intense way. The woman's eye are shut, while the man in the photo has his eyes slightly open. In small writing, there is a description of what the product does to your lips, “Women agree two to one that NIVEA a Kiss of Smoothness makes lips more kissable than the leading moisturizing lip balm.” This small description is trying to persuade that a study has been done by women agreeing two to one that NIVEA a kiss of Smoothness makes lips more kissable, how is the consumer supposed to know that the study was done, and if so, what were the results?, they don't. If a study was done, we want results. We want to see how it was experimented and who thought that this chap-stick defines “kissable lips”.
It is ridiculous to think that beauty is being defined by the measure of a woman's success. Products such as NIVEA, are making it alright for women to buy these things in order to feel a certain clarity for their man. NIVEA sells products other than chap-stick, anti-wrinkle crème is one of their most popular, it tries to convince women that they will look and feel younger after use. In order to look and feel younger, men will then have a stronger attraction, and when all of this is accomplished the success feels fulfilled. Success is also based on what the product does to your self-esteem. By using these products after the ad convinces you that you will be this new amazing person, they will then feel the increased confidence automatically. These products are to only make women feel more insecure, but let them think otherwise. Insecurities of wrinkles or any physical defects that they know you think you might have, will corrupt you to think that their product is the true ideal meaning of beauty. Lindsey explains how by a woman's appearance she is judged by her success,“She is successful because she wears this perfume or that eye shadow. She is beautiful, and in her late 20s. She has great legs. Presumably if you aren't gorgeous you will not only fail to find a husband, you will fail in the workplace. This is the wrong way society is built, every one has their own idea of success. What is a beauty product to tell you what real success is. Being beautiful on the outside does not get you the job you want, showing the world what you have to offer them naturally is real beauty. Without the help of any corrupted product woman can have success and lead a happy life with a man that does accept that.
Most corporations tend to sell products to women by having the hidden message of ways to teach a woman how to get or keep a man. NIVEA products do just such, a chap-stick is a chap-stick whether you are going to be kissed or not, it is still there to protect your lips. Chap-stick is intended to keep your lips looking and feeling healthy, not “kissable” for a man. When comparing woman products to men products there are less products advertising “how to make your lips more kissable”, but why for woman there are more? This question comes across my mind every time I see a beauty product advertisement. Professor Karen Lindsey explains the ideal thoughts woman are constantly thinking about when it comes to their man, Feeling and looking a certain way can be misinterpreted, when you feel good you look good. There is no reason for trying to always keep up with the latest trends or certain products for your man or thoughts you might have about yourself. If you feel good with nourishment you do have, then the success and respect from a man will come your way.