Mass-marketed acne advertisements promising flawless skin and using a conventionally beautiful celebrity or model to sell products is a normal visual in this society. In today’s world, the standard of beauty is sold rather than the idea of accepting what are considered “flaws” today. However, some changes are slowly being made as seen by the Dove Love Your Body Campaign. Despite this progression, there are still no acne advertisements emphasizing to love your skin for its flaws and all. This project will analyze how acne advertisements not only isolate but also mislead acne sufferers. In other words, real acne and scars are not shown in commercials because these companies do not want to normalize flawed skin. Instead, they wish to normalize flawless skin which will sell their products. These advertisements emphasize the promise of clear skin. However, they forget to mention there is a difference between regular “teenage” acne and actual severe or cystic acne. It is more likely these products help reduce regular acne on teenagers rather than people who have suffered from severe acne all their life. Additionally, cruel marketing strategies have been utilized in commercials to target the insecurities of adolescents and young adults struggling to maintain clear skin. This targeting easily isolates consumers and deceives them into buying their products. In this case, the methods being employed is an analysis of the marketing of skincare products and the effects on its consumers.
In order to analyze how acne advertisements mislead consumers or people with acne, this paper will examine, the marketing strategies used to target consumers insecurities, its use of celebrity testimonials and its push to normalize flawlessness rather than actual flaws. Ultimately, this paper will dispute how particular marketing strategies utilized in acne advertisements reinforce the isolation of acne sufferers and the methods that mislead them. Acne advertisements have always put people who suffer from acne in a negative light, however in the time of campaigns such as, Dove’s Real Beauty it is also time to teach those to love their skin regardless of its flaws.