No 7 advert. Not wearing makeup is presenting a false version of yourself?!

[QueenLaBeefah]

m.youtube.com/watch?v=f1hMx_dx1nE

I'm not sure if anyone has seen this but it is a makeup advert which seems to be implying that is is a feminist statement to choose to wear makeup and that to not wear make up is a presentation a false version of yourself.

What a load of crap.

Yep. Bollocks.

Anybody seen the recent interviews with fab singer/songwriter Alicia Keys where she tells why she is refusing to wear make up for performances/promotions ?

to not wear make up is a presentation a false version of yourself

I can't say I love it but I'm not sure how you get that message from it.

I think the woman in the ad is talking from a very personal point of view.

Yes, i think she is talking about her feeling personally more comfortable in make up, rather than in general,

Nonetheless, I don't like the ad much.

But all people talk from a personal viewpoint.

I sometimes wear makeup (often don't) but I don't understand how not wearing makeup is a false version of myself. It really makes no sense.

But she doesn't say that?

It doesn't make sense because it is not what she said.

She said that she chose not to wear make up as a feminist statement, she stopped wearing high heels for the same reason.

But she had a rethink... she liked wearing make up and heels so by not wearing them she was presenting herself in a manner that was not true to herself.

It is contradictory: She redefines make up as unimportant yet states that in wearing it she regains her sense of confidence.

But she doesn't say that not wearing make up presents a false version of herself. Just that her reasoning for not wearing it was, for her, unsupportable. She was more true to herself wearing what she liked, felt more confident in and enjoyed.

"Just that her reasoning for not wearing it was, for her, unsupportable. She was more true to herself wearing what she liked, felt more confident in and enjoyed."

Yes, this is what I took as her message.

However, as the message was in a make up ad, rather than , say, in an interview, I'm not convinced of its sincerity!

An the internal contradiction, where they shoehorned in the commercial 'buy me cos I will make you will feel more confidant' message was daft! A quick, 5 second re-write and there would have been no contradiction at all!

Adverts! Who'd have 'em?

However, as the message was in a make up ad, rather than , say, in an interview, I'm not convinced of its sincerity!

The woman in the advert is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Boots No7 Campaign | British Vogue
www.vogue.co.uk/article/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-for-boots-no7

I like it.

And look.... all the script writers had to do was let her phrase it as she did here:

“I think much of beauty advertising relies on a false premise – that women need to be treated in an infantile way, given a ‘fantasy’ to aspire to… Real women are already inspired by other real women, so perhaps beauty advertising needs to get on board.”

Rather than the bastardised version their (male) VP puts it "“At No7 we believe that when women know their make-up is just right they feel great, they feel ready to show up in the world in the way they want,”

Which is, after all, just perpetuating the usual crap!

You have no idea whether the words in the advert are hers or scripted. In the Vogue interview she said all of the following-and all very similar to the voice over in the advert. Personally I think you are deluding yourselves if you think she did not have input/ write the script.

“I love make-up and its wonderful possibilities for temporary transformation. And I also love my face after I wash it all off,”

“There is something exquisitely enjoyable about seeing yourself with a self-made new look. And for me that look is deeply personal. It isn’t about what is in fashion or what the rules are supposed to be. It’s about what I like. What makes me want to smile when I look in the mirror. What makes me feel slightly better on a dull day. What makes me comfortable.”
“I love make-up and its wonderful possibilities for temporary transformation. And I also love my face after I wash it all off,”
. “There is something exquisitely enjoyable about seeing yourself with a self-made new look. And for me that look is deeply personal. It isn’t about what is in fashion or what the rules are supposed to be. It’s about what I like. What makes me want to smile when I look in the mirror. What makes me feel slightly better on a dull day. What makes me comfortable.”

That told us!

This is Adichie herself speaking

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Talks Beauty, Femininity and Feminism - NYTimes.com
<a class="break-all" href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/fashion/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-boots-no7-makeup.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FAdichie%2C+Chimamanda+Ngozi&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=2&referer=lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F11%2F28%2Ffashion%2Fchimamanda-ngozi-adichie-boots-no7-makeup.html%3Frref%3Dcollection%252Ftimestopic%252FAdichie%252C%2BChimamanda%2BNgozi%26action%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3Dtimestopics%26region%3Dstream%26module%3Dstream_unit%26version%3Dlatest%26contentPlacement%3D1%26pgtype%3Dcollection%26_r%3D1&h=ATPydNY3x2At6Fu2w7VzpyBQP5FMHYh188o7GTwGROJEwAdO4SoPmMB6ym2KjXS46p670aGreWSt9zbI2GuRLsC_linvZrVriwP1m4XMJzP2eaqeLI-ZL94cxBx7NkA6_dk&enc=AZMmeadoEnaGe5EgEvVIfcbg6G5dw4MWV7ctQgRMRWQdLF38WqCr4xrQNQ9sr5Xe2scIAXVa9k1e-LPVTDpWL5L6L5ohHMgIgTbOSuL-5c7foew_Y9JYPML344XdB3RSkv3GV6TjLklsB8JQzJ7UyHEqjwQRpP6KTFIfgDuQwmY85B9M--5WZhLo2gmjueyi_q0&s=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/fashion/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-boots-no7-makeup.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FAdichie%2C+Chimamanda+Ngozi&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&_r=2&referer=lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F11%2F28%2Ffashion%2Fchimamanda-ngozi-adichie-boots-no7-makeup.html%3Frref%3Dcollection%252Ftimestopic%252FAdichie%252C%2BChimamanda%2BNgozi%26action%3Dclick%26contentCollection%3Dtimestopics%26region%3Dstream%26module%3Dstream_unit%26version%3Dlatest%26contentPlacement%3D1%26pgtype%3Dcollection%26_r%3D1&h=ATPydNY3x2At6Fu2w7VzpyBQP5FMHYh188o7GTwGROJEwAdO4SoPmMB6ym2KjXS46p670aGreWSt9zbI2GuRLsC_linvZrVriwP1m4XMJzP2eaqeLI-ZL94cxBx7NkA6_dk&enc=AZMmeadoEnaGe5EgEvVIfcbg6G5dw4MWV7ctQgRMRWQdLF38WqCr4xrQNQ9sr5Xe2scIAXVa9k1e-LPVTDpWL5L6L5ohHMgIgTbOSuL-5c7foew_Y9JYPML344XdB3RSkv3GV6TjLklsB8JQzJ7UyHEqjwQRpP6KTFIfgDuQwmY85B9M--5WZhLo2gmjueyi_q0&s=1

But I do remember that when I moved to the U.S. — and I think maybe there are different standards for people who are supposed to be particularly intellectual or particularly creative — I very quickly realized that if you want to seem as a serious writer, you can’t possibly look like a person who looks in the mirror

That is almost exactly what she is saying in the advert- she rejected the notion that you can't be a serious person if you care about appearance, make up and clothes.

When we see a man who’s well dressed, we don’t assume that he must be shallow or he must not be a serious person

Or the letter to a daughter

Comments
m.facebook.com/chimamandaadichie/posts/10154412708460944

Are you working from the assumption that we don't know who she is?

That is almost exactly what she is saying in the advert but only almost... which is what some have picked up on!

No I am not working from that assumption.

I am referring to yourassumption that what she said was scripted , for which you have no basis.

I think it is pretty insulting actually to suggest they put words in to her mouth.

Oh and as to not knowing who she is , I'm not 100% sure the first few posters did know who she was given comments like "the woman in the ad" and "crap"

Must be something in the makeup ad world at the moment: not sure if this Cover Girl advert on "lash equality" has aired over in the UK yet? (I rather like it - I like a bloke wearing makeup as a bloke, not saying that he is a woman because he wears makeup)

I saw that Oleanna I agree, I like a bloke wearing make up as a bloke.

Re this advert Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie has been saying what she said for several years now. I really am not convinced the words in the advert are not hers or approved by her.

Yes, I like the Cover Girl "lash equality" ad for the same reason.

I'm one of the first few posters and I know who she is, if that helps.

Saying an ad is a load of crap is not incompatible with knowing who is in it!

I think it is pretty insulting actually to suggest they put words in to her mouth

Insisting there were no copywriters is daft! If you read what I actually wrote you might find that I implied that she and the scriptwriters would have worked together!

You are leaping on a thing that doesn't really exist! We (previous posters) seem to know who she is and I have experience in advertising... where there are always scriptwriters, and lawyers, to go over the script!

Lawyers,Blanche?

The horror!

I saw it last night.

I agree it's presented form a very individual viewpoint.

It would have been better to have another individual presenting the opposing view but then it wouldn't be a great advert for No. 7

Odd how the copy writers missed out the also love my face after I wash it all off part!

(Of course they did, which is fine for a make up ad)