1020 Paper #1

Project One: Beautiful Beginning

African American hair care products are a billion dollar industry. Like many African American girls, I began a journey using various types of hair care products trying to achieve optimum beauty at a young age. When I was 7 years old, I got my first “kiddy perm” which was supposed to make me have hair like the beautiful long-haired girl on the box. This did not happen. My hair fell out and I was devastated. There were times that I did not feel as though I was beautiful enough because my hair was not as straight as I thought is should have been. While looking though a magazine, I found one of numerous advertisements that suggest the African American women buy a certain product to reach their greatest beauty potential. The advertisement above is for Dark and Lovely’s Beautiful Beginnings line, which sells perms and other products, mostly hair straighteners, for African American girls. The ad shows three African American girls reading a book. All of them have very straight hair. The bottom of the ad shows a line of Dark and Lovely products, that if used with one another are supposed to maintain straight hair. The ad goes on to say “A wonderful start to beautiful hair.” The rhetoric of this advertisement, like many others, not only makes the consumer want to buy the Beautiful Beginnings line of products, but also fosters some of the insecurities that many women have about their hair.[MM1]

The Dark and Lovely’s Beautiful Beginning advertisement does have a target audience. Initially, I thought that it was African American women, but actually it was targeted to young African American girls. The advertisement was found in a magazine called Essence, whose target audience is African American women. The photo alone of the three African American girls will grab other young girls’ attention. The colors used are very vibrant and eye-catching, manly hot pink. The text of the advertisement is bubbly and bold.

The advertisement claims the Beautiful Beginnings perm will make African American hair very straight. This can be observed by looking at the little girls’ hair. It also suggests that if your hair is straight, then you look good. If you look good, then you are happy. This can be seen by looking at the smiling happy faces of the children[MM2]. The advertisement also suggests that its product is “the safest, gentlest,children’s relaxer.” This is shown at the bottom of the ad. By using the words “safest” and “gentlest” the ads may be more appealing because it suggest the other products may not be as safe or gentle for use on children[MM3]. The ad also says in bold black print “A Wonderful Start to Beautiful Hair.” This could make audience members fill that they are not beautiful until they use this product, thus making this portion of the ad effective[MM4].

When analyzing the reasons that this advertisement appeals to the audiences beliefs, values, or desires I thought about some of the reasons that such ads appealed to me as an African American girl when I was little. Young African American girls, like myself, are taught that having straight hair is better than having coarse, kinky, or “nappy” hair. Many African Americans desire to have straighter hair. Many believe that having straighter hair is more socially acceptable and having coarse hair is not as beautiful. Beliefs like these can foster insecurities that many minority women have about their appearance, especially their hair[MM5].

In examining the reasons while the advertisement for Dark and Lovely’s Beautiful Beginnings works, I think that the advertisement in some way’s sets up dissonance in its audience, which can lead to insecurities. Young girls may look at the three young girls in the ad and say to themselves “I didn’t look like that but perhaps I should so then I can be beautiful[MM6].” As a child I was draw to an advertisement similar too this one but it is showed little girls jumping rope with very long straight hair. The ad was for a “kiddy perm” like Beautiful Beginnings. The ad made me feel insecure because I did not have long flowing hair, and I asked my mother to perm my hair so that I could be like the girls on the box. When I did get my perm, my hair broke off and I did not want to go to school because I felt that I was not beautiful enough. Dissonance or inner conflict is a powerful tool that the advertisement used, making it effective but possibly cultivating insecurities in women of color.

In conclusion,African American hair care products are some of the most lucrative businesses in the world. While looking in a magazine, I found numerous advertisements that suggest that African American women buy certain products to be what society deems as beautiful.[MM7] The advertisement above is for Dark and Lovely’s Beautiful Beginnings line, which sells perms and other products, mostly hair straighteners, for African American girls. The rhetoric of the advertisement, like many others, not only makes the consumer want to buy the Beautiful Beginnings line of products, but also fosters some of the insecurities that many women have about their hair.