“See the real me,” the Clean and Clear face cleansing advertisement screams off the page
of Teen Vogue. Four pages later,
another advertisement yells to the reader, saying to “try the Neutrogena Clean Pore Cleanser/Mask,
it’s recommended by dermatologists, loved by fans.” Continuing on two more
pages, the reader is bombarded again by a page filled with bright colors,
promising instantly clear skin with the use their Simple product.
Why is a magazine designed specifically for teenage girls
filled with advertisements on skin products? The answer seems very clear; to
sell as much of their product as they can to their primary consumers. Gullible
adolescents who desire clear skin.
Continuing through the magazine, more and more of these
lively advertisements promising clear skin become noticeable, while presenting
less and less actual magazine content. A few small useless articles on this
month’s fashion appear every few pages, not substantiating the actual purpose
of the magazine, to share fashion trends. It is obvious that the magazine’s
primary concern is in its advertisements, or they would not have more
advertisements than articles. Of the 199 pages there are a total of 111 filled
with ads. 55.7% of the magazine is advertisements.
So yes, the Teen
Vogue producers craft their magazine with the primary concern of
maintaining advertisers. With the percentage to prove this, it is clear that
advertising is more important to them than providing entertainment. Why
wouldn’t it be? The sole purpose of the production of this magazine is to make
money. Estimates from the New York Times
say about 1.1million copies are sold each year. Of the estimated 2,400 pages
printed each year, 1,248 are ads. According to Gaeblr.com, each advertisement
roughly costs $75,260. This means that the magazine is making $93,900,393 per
year on advertisements alone.
However, people do not seem to complain. The happy bright
advertisements actually serve as a type of entertainment in themselves. Teenage girls seem to enjoy reading about how
they can “have clear skin in a week.” Between the magazine articles of skinny
women in expensive clothing, the smiling teenagers provide a sense of comfort
by telling the reader not to worry, clear days are ahead. It seems to be a
win-win situation.
Maeve, this post is strong. You conduct great research. You've selected a great medium to explore, and I think your conclusion is spot-on. The ads are a form of entertainment themselves. I was particularly impressed by the fact that you directly linked the amount of ads to actual revenue. Shannon did this too. Typically students do not draw this connection. Yet, it certainly makes your case more convincing.
ReplyDeleteDespite the convincing case you make about prevalence of advertising, you need to work a bit on your technique. There are several distracting errors in this post. If we look at just your second paragraph, the second two sentences are not grammatically correct. First, you must learn the proper use of the semi-colon. The semi-colon typically separates independent clauses. It is NOT used to introduce a list or provide a pause in a sentence. Second, "Gullible adolescents who desire clear skin" is not a complete sentence. There are many errors like this. I suggest finding a proof-reader.