This is an ad for Carol’s Daughter Coco Crème. It includes a mother and daughter who each have curly, healthy, shiny curls. The women in this ad are both African-American, which means that the ad is most likely targeting an African-American audience, but more specifically African-American women. The top portion of the add reads, “Carol’s Daughter: True To Your Roots.” Slightly below this text is more text that reads, “Teach her how to love her hair.” I think the advertiser is attempting to sell this product by appealing to the recently popular “natural” trend that became popular in the Black community within the past 10 years. Additionally, by having the mother kiss her daughter’s forehead, the advertiser is also appealing to the security and sense of belonging that one typically feels when with their mother. This ad may even make you think of the torture that you may have previously endured when getting a relaxer or a hot comb treatment. The ad implies that now you don’t have to endure torture, but rather love your hair. The various shades of brown in the ad were intentional as they appeal not only to women of color, but brown also represents earth and all that comes from the earth. One can infer from this color scheme and from the placement of ingredients that this product is all natural and chemical free. While I think this ad is nice, there are two things that troubled me. The first thing I noticed from this ad was the women in the ad have a very specific type of hair that is not the dominant hair type in the black community. This is significant because while attempting to target an African-American female audience, the advertiser excluded a large portion of that audience with a lack of proper representation. Secondly, this ad is found in this month’s Essence magazine. The ad itself is not necessarily what troubled me, but throughout the entire magazine, the majority of the advertisements are hair products. This bothers me because this says to me that my natural hair is less than, that I need products to tame it, and that it is necessary so that my hair is appropriate for others. Perhaps I am reading too much into the ads overall, but these were my thoughts as I skimmed through the magazine.
