Empowering All Woman of The World?
The concept of advertisement is simple and a bit straightforward: by presenting an individual with empowering significance, one can affect the thoughts and behavior of its target audience. Most jewelry ads show what a woman should expect from their man or that the man of the house should buy the woman of the house bright, shinny, and expensive jewelry. In 2003, De Beers’ launch of the “Right Hand Ring” advertising campaign was devised to persuade women to buy a shiny piece of bling for their “non-man hand.” This ad campaign is a purely emotional pitch to a woman’s self-confidence with different colored text and the way they portrayed an independent women through the model; however, there are a few facts that De Beers seemed to forget while releasing these ads. In the “Right Hand Ring” advertisement, it fails to indicate that there is a diverse group of wealthy women in this world who may not be married nor have children, and quite simply that not all “women of the world” can afford expensive diamond jewelry to express individuality.
When looking at this advertisement, the first thing you notice is the woman. Don’t get me wrong she is beautiful; her silk like hair cascading down her shoulder much like a waterfall, her lips red with her glowing porcelain skin and her figure looking ten times better than mine. Her smirk seems to be telling you she is confidant and satisfied with her day. Most women would prefer to look like this everyday! Lets not exclude that burst of light coming from her right hand. One can only assume it’s a diamond ring because you can’t even actually see it in the ad. Once you get past this “perfect” woman, you start to read the words on this ad. In orange you have empowering words talking of celebration and taking over. While in green, it states what this whole jewelry campaign is all about, “Women of the world, raise your right hand.” To me however, the words of this ad don’t match up with the photo of the advertisement that was sent all over the world.
I love this ad’s straightforwardness. It is not shy about targeting the deliberate audience for the right hand ring. De Beers asks wealthy, educated, confidant and most importantly, “established” women to join in the cutting-edge purchase. Still, what about everyone else? As I looked at all the different ads they released, in my head I kept saying, “Why are all the women white?” Do middle class, uneducated, colored women not want a shiny rock to show off their hard work? Yes, the likelihood of middle to lower class buying diamond jewelry is less likely… De Beers did its research. Another thing to keep in mind is that every single “Right Hand Ring” ad references a partner or counterpart… a time of love or motherhood. By suggesting the complete separation of the right and left hand, we are essentially characterizing women down to the jewelry they wear on what hand and what it represents in todays culture. This subjective implication may be harmful to the women who do not feel that their femininity is attached to their role as wife or mother, but to their work and contributions.
Noticing this gap in target audience between actual jewelry owners and workingwomen, De Beers set out to reach the unfamiliar or naive female buyer. A message to the ladies of the world: Right hand rings are not a new invention. Believe it or not, you can wear any ring on any finger on both your hands… I know, crazy! Having said that, the strategic way De Beers speaks about the right hand ring would lead you to believe that this is the birth of a new style. De Beers is saying that it is acceptable for women to by their own jewelry and wear it proudly as a sign of independence and self-reliance, but when some women get so excited to go and purchase a diamond ring, they soon come to reality and say to themselves, “Wait, I work in a cubicle asking people to take a survey over the phone. I CAN’T AFFORD TO BUY DIAMOND JEWLRY!” While this campaign is uplifting and powerful, it’s a bit off from reality. Especially in this economy we live in today. With jobs being scarcer than ever before, more and more are losing incomes and can barely afford bills and necessity items. Maybe it should read: “Women who make over $100k a year and live in a penthouse in Manhattan, RAISE YOUR RIGHT HAND.”
Thank you De Beers, for drawing the attention to the idea of female financial independence, especially in the jewelry industry. A field that usually targets men buying products for women, diamonds are not often thought of as a “gift for oneself”, but next time, maybe add some diversity and different aspects to your advertisements. Not all working ladies wear tight, mini black dresses and tons of make up!