Evelyn Iglesias

January 19, 2015

Writing 2
Zack De Piero

Genre in the Glamour Era

Lipsticks are stamped with names like Lady Danger, Damn Glamorous, and
Toxic Tale; By applying Lady Danger, a woman enhances and solidifies her lip
shape.(M.A.C advertisement) Eyeliners, on the other hand, create a depth in the eye
color and accentuate the shape of the eye. Mascaras elongate the eyelashes
meanwhile making them a darker shade. Eyeshadows, varying in colors, beautify the
eyelids and bring attention to the the eye color. The pigmentation and effect cosmetics
have on a womans face is what attracts all these ladies to keep collecting makeup.
Cosmetic companies, like M.A.C. or Sephora, partner up with distinct pop icons,
clothing lines, and other fashion-related industries. The purpose of partnering up with a
variety of companies is to expand their makeup selection and promote their company.
One of the pieces of literature that is used effectively in the cosmetics industry is a
collection advertisement. Collection advertisements show their most popular items and
a description of the collection. When comparing the collection advertisements of M.A.C.,
Sephora, and Avon, genre is viewed more clearly after breaking apart the piece of
literature; Labeled as a genre, collection advertisements withhold conventions that
portray communication effectively.
Women, as well as men, who enjoy the colors and wonders of makeup are the
general audience. Girls or young teens are attracted to makeup collections ads, but the
advertisements are not oriented towards them. The writers of these ads also direct

these advertisement towards professionals like makeup artist and company

representatives. Makeup artist and company representatives are impacted by these
advertisements immensely since cosmetics are part of their lives. Continuing with the
analysis of the ad, the style of each collection advertisement is different.
Although each advertisement demonstrates each of the collections products, it
shows a disparate color scheme and text. For example, the M.A.C. advertisement has a
vibrant and solid color scheme while the Sephora and Avon advertisement are white
and more plain. Additionally, the text and font size of the Avon collection advertisement
are more difficult to read. Besides the product pictures, the M.A.C collection
advertisement gives a demo of how to apply the cosmetics in an attractive way. The
multiple products listed and their price are essential to a collection advertisement.
Possible products could range from eyeshadow palettes, concealers, foundations, lip
glosses, and the all-time loved lipsticks. Each of the products also has a rating section
where the customers could post if they were satisfied or not.
The descriptions of the collections are written to draw in the reader or viewer of
the ad. The Sephora ad did not have a collection description, so it is not influencing the
audience to its greatest potential. M.A.C demonstrated an aggressive syntax in their
collection description. MAC partners up with vintage clothing icon, Nasty Gal, in a
fierce collection of shades that are as daring and dramatic as the #GIRLBOSS herself,
Sophia Amoruso. Deep purple, sultry red and lush burgundy Lipsticks pair perfectly with
a killer Nail Lacquer. This season, style has attitude.(M.A.C Ads) While Sephora,
partnering with Urban Decay, takes more of a friendly, up-front approach, their ad states
the following: Feminine. Dangerous. Fun. Beauty with an edge high-performance

cosmetics in an insane range of shades. Created by makeup junkies, for makeup

junkies.(Sephora Ads) Comparing both ads, M.A.C demonstrates more of a persuasive,
confident tone. The language used in both collection descriptions are modern and less
professional to the point where everyday public will be indulged.
The purpose of collection advertisements is basically to get people to buy the
product. By designing an appealing advertisement, more customers are bound to view
products and consider buying them. Collection advertisements are similar to the regular
format of an advertisement just that in this case there is a broad selection of products.
These advertisements specifically represent one industry or the partner of the industry.
Learning genre is crucial to the learning experience. Throughout ones
educational or professional career, it is necessary to learn the proper style to
communicate with others. By understanding genre, people will speak or write to others
effectively. The conventions of genre are entirely helpful as well. Like explained in
Murder! (Rhetorically Speaking), people are not aware that every time they open their
mouth or write something they are using rhetoric.(p.36) When one heads out to a
grocery store or to a family reunion, theres a difference in the way one speaks to
people in distinct settings. When one writes an email or text message, people use their
logic to find the adequate words for whom the piece corresponds to. Educational
settings give students a variety of ways to communicate whether it be through poetry,
narratives, or research papers. While considering genre, the goal is to recognize these
shifts in location and to be aware of how the shifts change the writing. (Navigating
Genre p.21)

The importance of genre is to be able to receive and give a message. As simple

as this, genre is the telephone to speak to society effectively. Genre is developing the
norms of communication by connecting people to emotions and ideas. Specifically,
media uses genre and its conventions daily; every person looks out to media in a
certain way to find out about what is happening around the world. The weather reports,
facebook/instagram post and radio reports are genres that are influencing society daily;
they are sending the audience messages quickly and in a persuasive manner.
(Backpack vs Briefcases p. 53)
Relatively, the collection advertisements explained above are part of this media
oriented environment; collection advertisements develop a message and direct this
message to the specific audience. There is a purpose to get people to buy products and
to expand the company as much as possible. Attached to this purpose is the context.
The context of these collection advertisements flourished from fashion or cosmetics
industries looking out for a successful profit. Context is used excessively in many
situations; simple examples are choosing an outfit every morning. The outfit depends
on where one is going or what one is doing.(Backpacks vs Briefcases p.55) Not only
does cosmetics involve genre, but genre is faced day-to-day.

Work Cited:
Boyd, Janett. Murder!(Rhetorically Speaking).(2011): p.36.Print.
Carroll, Laura Bolin.Backpacks vs. Briefcases:Steps toward Rhetorical Analysis(2010):p.5355.Print.

Dirk, Kerry.Navigating Genres.(2010):p.21.Print.

n.p. M.A.C. Cosmetics.Web. 19 January 2015

<http://www.maccosmetics.com/whats_new/13423/New-Collections/Nasty-Gal/index.tmpl>
n.p.Sephora Cosmetics. Web. 19 January 2015<http://www.sephora.com/urban-decay>
n.p.Avon Cosmetics. Web. 19 January 2015<http://avonshop.co.uk/beauty/c/make-up/anewbeauty.htm>