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Can a promotional image for a new collection/launch change whether you buy or not?
Can a promotional image for a new collection/launch change whether you buy or not? Have you ever been so turned-off that you’ve skipped? Or reconsidered because of how lovely the promotional image was?
If I see a lot of photoshop going on, I’m instantly turned-off, and I’m definitely less interested–this is especially true for mascaras and skincare!
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Promo pics don’t sway me either way. If the colors used appeal to me, I’ll check it out. If I find the colors horrendous, I’ll skip it. I’ve learned long ago that companies almost always exaggerate, regardless of what the product may be, so I’ve come to not let the pics carry much weight. When it comes to things like skincare, hair products, or mascara, I stick with what I know, and only branch out if I get a product for free, as all really are very personal products.
I’ve only recently began to even look at promos for Spring & Summer collections, as I’ve never been a fan of the shades that dominate those seasons, and I know I won’t buy them no matter what the ads look like.
Well, yes and no. I don’t feel like I can trust the colors or the real or implied claims made in ads and promotional pictures because of the use of photo manipulation. But on the other hand, ads can inspire me to try a new look or inform me about the fact that that brand is currently specializing in that style of product (like when Dior was doing that purple theme). Some of the Illamasqua ads have been so creative that I was totally inspired to try a new look and was much more interested in stopping by their booth and doing a little swatching.
If I see anorexic-looking models, I’ll pass on the product, no matter how great it may be.
Generally not. It’s more whether I like the shades or not and if they work for me. If I let promo images scare me off, I’d hardly buy any makeup ever! (Which would probably be a good thing!)
Yes sometimes. Models get on my nerves, some campaigns are vulgar and in poor taste, others are pretty and quite subtle.
But overrall I first look pigments carefully. MUFE pigments are not so pretty for lippies but they’re good for eyeshadows, I am really obsessed by the quality of pigments in makeup, promotional images are not so important in fact. Most of the time many campaigns are very similar.
I agree–mascara and skincare are two big ones. I also find that, while they don’t necessarily turn me off to a product, 99% of commercials for beauty products make me a little annoyed and don’t make me WANT to try them. They’re ALWAYS so ridiculously photoshopped and fake, it drives me nuts!
I totally agree, but I havent paid much attention to ads lately- the last one I remember being weirded out by was I think Lancome Babydoll mascara, something like that
The latest Lancôme ads are so photoshopped and they make the models almost plastic-like!
Oh, yeah. Definitely! Sometimes I have my mind set on a product and I end up buying one from one of its competitors because of an ad or a string of good [but advertised] blog reviews. Sometimes I’m happy with my choice, sometimes I’m not. But it was my choice anyway… 😛
I agree with you Christine! There’s an ad out right now for maybelline Volum’ Express Mega Plush Mascara, that terrifies me! Not only is it obvious that she has fake lashes on, there is so much photoshop. She doesn’t look human, and no in the goo way. XD
I remember when Benefit’s They’re Real came out. I thought the ads were intriguing and I really wanted to try the product. I’ve also seen some Bobbi Brown ads where the model looks really great that has made me want to buy her stuff. A lot of the MAC advertising turns me off to the brand. Things just look overdone.
Absolutely. I concur with Christine. Additionally I just cannot deal with Lindsey Wixson or Kate Moss (for a few different reasons) so if they helm a campaign-forget it. I feel this way with Rosie H-W, Miranda Kerr and Kate Hudson to a lesser degree. Sephora keeps using a model that looks like she has either lost her nose(not being sarcastic) or it has been airbrushed into oblivion. They keep using her for the Pantone campaigns, and I just can’t with her at ALL. If an ad strikes me as patronizing, forget it. I’m ok being manipulated as long as its done with finesse. I tear ads out of magazines if they annoy me- no joke! Lots of the smug, faux family for Hilfiger gettin’ recycled! Oh and those cheesy pedo Hard Tail ads. Ok my fingers need to breath because I could write a thesis on this. Oh! Languishing, anorexic, pained looking models? Not The Sex- your misery doesn’t entice me.
I glad you mentioned the over Photoshopping because I find that a lot of the Lancome promotional images (in particular, the models’ faces) have WAY TOO much photoshopping going on and it’s such a turn off for me.
Right? They fire Isabella Rossellini because she is too old ( what their anti aging cremes don’t work?) but hire her daughter and photoshop Julia Roberts into oblivion. Should never have let Isabella go, and Julia doesn’t say “Lancôme” to me at all. Rimmel is a serial offender. No need to magnify the twee on Zooey with her OUtraGEoUS fake lashes! Ugh.
I actually stopped buying Lancome when the fired Isabella. Although I resumed buying a few years ago, it hasn’t really been that much, and *many* years went by in between. I don’t normally let politics, airbrushing, Photoshop, “anorexic” models, etc sway my buying decisions, but for some reason, I took major offense to that decision.
I don’t usually look at the models used to promote collections because they really do look Photoshopped. However, I do like to see models with freckles; those images really attract me. And I also find that a lot of the models used are particularly generic looking, so I tend to just look at promo images of the products themselves.
It’s not a makeup brand, but dynamite had a poster on all their stores where the model was smoking a huge cigar. Not a cigarette but a CIGAR. And the picture was huge making it almost impossible miss! Young girls shop there and I thought that the picture was completely inappropriate. Not to mention disgusting. They recently built a dynamite at my mall which I was very interested in shopping at but once I saw that poster I just couldn’t stand to support a store that supports smoking in young women. Sorry for the rant!
Nope. A good promo image might make me want to do more research on a product, but I don’t care how good or bad the images are – if the product is something I need and/or want, AND if it will do what I need/expect it to do, AND if it’s reasonably priced, I’ll buy it. If the product does not meet the above criteria, I won’t – no matter how intriguing the promo images may be. In the end, all that matters is how good the product looks on me. I won’t be flashing around promo pictures (or the product packaging, for that matter). So who cares?
no, not really. color and product descripitions and color stories real me in.
It absolutely changes how I feel. Although, I like an exciting promotion, I want a true promotion. I hate to see commercial for mascaras where the lashes look as though they have just come off of Snooki from The Jershey Shore. Hey, I love false lashes. However, I don’t like to be lied to and have Photoshop used to the ultimate as we are not silly. Be real and it will work out much better. I would rather see great packaging and be a sucker than fall for ridiculous antics.
I agree that Photoshop is way over-used for both mascara and skin-care advertisements. I’d rather see an accurate representation of what the product can do for me instead of what computer software can do for my pictures. Another thing that turns me off to skin-care advertisements is when they use a 20-year-old to advertise anti-aging skincare products. Really?
The only time a promotional image/idea ever stopped me from buying a collection was Mac’s Juarez. That was offensive to me. I think the over photo shopped thing is so outdated now, not to mention, it does nothing to tell us about the product! I can’t lie, I find some Mac and chanel images cool and fun to look at. I loved Uma Thurman for Louis V too but these images have a time and a place. In photograpy books! Because it really is just a marvel of photography and not very helpful when it comes to buying make up. Those tricks of photography shouldn’t be projected to young girls. The Illamasqua Generation Q promo is pretty neat, but still tons of airbrushing. Don’t get me wrong, I have lightly photoshopped myself.. lol I love the fantasy of it but like I said, let’s move it to a coffee table book and leave it there. No make up in the world can make you look like photoshop can! Hopefully, now that everyone has cameras and can spot this stuff a lot better than when I was growing up, things will change. It’s outdated. I’m done ranting now.
;0
I’m glad I’m not the only one annoyed by the mascara ads. Nobody’s eyelashes are all exactly the same length, mascara or not.
There’s one ad out now for the L’Oreal Caresse Stick where the model’s lips look like they’re made of jelly–just totally translucent. There’s no way you could get your lips to look like that without photoshop.
I also get annoyed when the color the model is wearing is much different in the picture than in the tube. Revlon did it with the Emma Stone lip butter ad–she’s wearing Peach Parfait, it says, which looks like a light opaque peachy color, and in the tube, it’s a sparkly reddish color. Huh?
Yes, MACs promotional images often turn me off because they look cheap or unprofessional and use waaay to much photoshoping, but on the other hand if I see one that really grabs me I can’t wait for the product to be released and I find myself wanting to like the product, MACs Hey, sailor! was a good example of that for me and I did actually like quite a bit of it!