5/19/2013 #7- Is Your Money Worth it?

I decided to stop watching Glee because I quickly realized that it was becoming the Lea Michele show. However, she is the perfect actress for a hair ad with the all-about-me attitude. While L'oreal chose the perfect actress for the testimonial itself, I had several problems with the ad itself.

One of the advertising techniques this ad features is testimonial. It uses weasel words like stronger.  It also employs the Simple Solution technique. This shampoo gives you one solution for five problems. Five for the price of one. Who could go wrong with that? In this ad, the problem is in the problems (which sounded a lot better in my head). 

L'oreal offers you one solution for five problems. Those problems are weak, limp, lifeless, dull, and straw-like hair. Is it just me, or do all those words mean the same thing? I went to thesaurus.com to do some digging. It turns out that weak and limp are synonyms. They mean the same thing, and suddenly it's become four for the price of one. What's more I thought it was strange to say that one of the problems with people's hair is that it is lifeless. I used to have a friend who called me self-absorbed for fussing about my hair because it was dead anyway. Maybe the word L'oreal was looking for was lackluster, not shiny, or dull. Now it's three for the price of one. I left straw-like out of the investigation because it had a good alibi. It was just plain weird. Straw as in drinking straws or straw from a scarecrow? 

This ad satisfies the need for attention. You're hair will be shiny and beautiful. People will notice you because it's all about you. That message can't be missed with Lea Michele stating the famous L'oreal catchphrase and flipping her hair and flashing the number five. But, really what are we worth? The word it is so vague. Are we worth money? Are we worth this fake, simple solution shampoo? No, we're not.

I didn't like the filming of this commercial all. One reason is because I can't stand Lea Michelle. It made me dizzy and angry to watch her flip her hair all over the place. The lighting made it look shiny, but also fake. I also didn't appreciate how she flashed around the number five every chance she got. Lea, this is not a show choir performance. Please, put your jazz hands away. On rare occasions, I'll watch a commercial just because I like to watch it. This was not one of those occasions. 

L'oreal Total Repair Care 5 is really L'oreal Total Repair Care 2. It does two things: make your hair shiny and strong. There are so many hair problems that it doesn't address. What about split-ends, or the number one enemy of dark hair like mine: dandruff? That's money I'd rather spend on things like comfort food. I'd rather eat a carton of ice cream and read Nicholas Sparks. Why? Because I'm worth it.