Just for you

In this week's reading of Chapter 2 in Practices of Looking we read about interpellation and how advertisements and products try to speak to the viewer on a personal level. Well, Neutrogena seems to be doing just that with their new skin care line skin iD.

The website states that "skin iD is the first personalized acne solution clinically proven to stop 85% of emerging breakouts because it customized to specifically treat your skincare needs. Unlike other acne treatments, skin iD offers a comprehensive skin evaluation, and exclusive product line and an interactive Web site to treat acne needs on a individual basis. With more than 25 customized acne skincare regimens that cleanse, treat and protect for clear, beautiful skin" (www.skiniD.com)

By advertising for personalized skin care Neutrogena is actively trying to reach out to the consumer and show they care specifically for you. The questionnaire/evaluation on the website is really nothing more than a few simple questions asking if your skin is dry or oily, and the personalized regimen and products they suggest are most likely randomly generated, but Neutrogena is still effectively marketing their new line as individualized by allowing the consumer to interact with the company, either over the phone or the computer. Below is one of the commercials for skin iD:

The commercial purposely emphasizes the words, not the same, you, different and personalized continuously throughout the ad. They've also chosen a non-threatening, girl next door/ everywoman type as their spokeswomen to make you feel even more connected to the product. Sturken and Cartwright wrote that "advertising seeks to interpellate viewer-consumers in constructing them within the "you of the ad" (p.50). Neutrogena take it one step farther by making not just the ads but the actual product all about "you".