Now many of us watch ads with a pinch of cynicism at times, thinking “Are those eyelashes really real?”, “Is it possible to have such smooth skin?” etc. This is exactly why LOreal has just recently clocked up a number of complaints regarding the true state of Cheryl Cole’s hair.

The ad campaign features Cole talking about how the product makes her hair feel “full of life”, and this angered a number of people due to the fact that Cole’s hair has been styled with hair extensions. The 40 viewers who complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) believed that it exaggerated the benefits LOreal Elvie products can have on hair, as Cole used extensions in the ad to get her look.

After analysising the ad the ASA concluded that the “ads did not misleadingly exaggerate the effects of the product”, but what do YOU think?

Personally, I feel this is the area of marketing that can ruin people’s perception of marketers, leaving them looking like con-men/women who are simply after money, money, money- But we are not all like that I can assure you! The ad is yet another company jumping onto the ‘beauty ideal’ bandwagon which the fashion industry created to make people feel scared of being themselves and pressured to look a certain way. I don’t agree with it, and feel that products should sell themselves in a credible and genuine way. Putting extensions in the woman’s hair on the ad isn’t showing the effects of LOreal products, it’s showing how great their hair stylist is.

There should be more companies ready to listen to the customer and deliver what they want and need, the focus should be on making the customer feel great, not the model in the ad!

Have a wonderful day,

By Chakraborty

Dr Chakrabarty is the Chief Innovation Officer of IntuiComp TeraScience. Earlier she was Assistant Professor of Delhi University, a QS ranked university in India. Before that she has held research positions in IIT Mumbai, IIT Chennai and IISc Bangalore. She holds 2 patents and over 20 research publications in her name which are highly cited. Her area of research is in smart technologies, integrated devices and communications. She also has a penchant for blogging and is an editor of Business Fundas.