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Aim:
To investigate how the language of printed beauty advertisements aimed
at women have changed over time by looking at lipstick advertisements
from the 1940s and comparing them to lipstick advertisements from 2000
onwards.
Introduction:
I have chosen to base my language investigation on the area of
advertising. The reason for this is that I have enjoyed studying this area as
a part of my Media Studies A-Level. Also, I was able to notice a potential
link between advertising and the language change module, which I have
been studying as a part of my English Language A-Level.
I have specifically looked at how lipstick adverts have changed over time.
The reason for this is that lipstick is said to be particularly prominent in
defining a womans identity. A US War Production Board survey from the
1940s showed that women thought of their lipstick as being a crucial
personal item.
A womans role has particularly changed in Western culture over the past
100 years and I am going to investigate whether this and other social
changes are reflected in the advertising of lipstick adverts from the 1940s
to the present day.
The 1940s is a particularly interesting era to explore due to World War 2
causing many changes within society. The war caused many changes for
women, for example, in terms of employment; women were treated far
more equally, breaking down barriers between occupation and gender.
The war was even able to influence fashion because women were
encouraged to be patriotic and fashion was a way in which they could
display this, for example, wearing red, which is a colour associated with
Britain. The fashions of the 1940s were particularly concerned with
creating hourglass figures in order retain a degree of femininity, which
was lost in the utility wear that women had to wear at work. I am going to
look at whether these issues are reflected in lipstick advertisements of the
era.
Since the 1940s, there have been many significant changes in society in
terms of education (it is now widely accessible), technology (it has
become much more advanced), materialism (it has become a more
dominant attitude), equality (it has improved) and much more. I am going
to see whether these changes that have occurred since the 1940s, which
have ultimately produced the society that we now live in, will be reflected
in the language of advertisements from today.
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Hypothesis:
Overall, I think that there will be many significant differences between the
language used in adverts from the 1940s and adverts from the 2000s.
I think that the selling strategies used will vary, as this will reflect the
differences in the target audience. The 1940s audience would have
experienced many changes due to the war, including limited availability of
items such as lipstick. Todays audience is a very different one due to
living in a post-modern society, where we are constantly bombarded by
images of products. I think that this will be reflected in the
advertisements, as this has meant that competition between
manufacturers has increased, so it would make sense that they would try
to use unique selling strategies to market their product.
The media is a key source in producing the dominant ideologies held by
society. Therefore, I think that the adverts from the 1940s will reflect a
set of different values and attitudes in comparison to the adverts from the
2000s. The 1940s was an era significantly affected by the war, which
embarked ideas of patriotism and also affected several other areas, such
as the role of women. Since the 1940s, the values and attitudes in society
have been constantly changing; for example, a rise in feminism has
affected attitudes towards the role of women. I expect to find that the
language used in adverts from the 2000s does reflect such changes.
Method:
I chose to use five US lipstick advertisements from the 1940s and five UK
lipstick advertisements from the 2000s. I chose to use five from each era
because, as a reader of magazines where such adverts are included, I
knew that the recent lipstick advertisements would include a low number
of words, so I needed to use a number that would provide me with lots of
data to be able to analyse.
As the adverts are from different countries, it created a degree of difficulty
for me to make a comparison. However, I have taken this into account and
I have looked at Western culture, rather than British or American culture in
order to make the comparison.
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To collect my data, I used a website called AdAccess to find five lipstick

advertisements from the 1940s and I used old copies of several
magazines, including Heat, Look and Cosmopolitan.
I have chosen two themes to analyse:
Theme 1 Selling Strategies

Lexis used

Literary devices used

Sentence types

Address

Use of alliteration

Images used

Figures and statistics

Total number of words

Theme 2 Values and Attitudes

Role of women

Patriotism

Employment

Self-improvement

Education

Materialism

Economy

Importance of authority

Prescriptivism

Class

Status

Post-modernism
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Results:
Theme 1 Selling Strategies
Table A Lexis Used (per 100 words)
Specialist
Scientific
Adjectives

Du Barry Coty Tussy Helena Rubinstein Yardley Bourjois MaxFactor Rimmel Avon Maybelline
6.7 8.74 12.64
4.25
9.7
4.76
20.58
3.45 5.10
4.48
0 0.97 1.74
1.15
1.72
1.58
5.88
3.44
0
5.97
15.08 19.41 21.84
15.44
15.53
14.29
14.71
31.03 7.14
11.94

Table B Literary Devices Used (whole text)

Metaphors, Puns, Personification etc

Du Barry Coty Tussy Helena Rubinstein Yardley Bourjois MaxFactor Rimmel Avon Maybelline
3
0
1
5
0
1
1
0
1
3

Table C Sentence Types

(number of sentences beginning with imperative
verbs/ending with exclamation marks per 100 words)
Imperatives
Exclamatory

Du Barry Coty Tussy Helena Rubinstein Yardley Bourjois MaxFactor Rimmel Avon Maybelline
1.68 2.91
0
0.39
0
7.94
8.82
6.9 2.04
2.98
2.79 1.94 1.15
1.16
0
4.76
0
0
0
0

Table D Address (per 100 words)

2nd person (you, your etc)
Other (women, she, Maybelline etc)

Du Barry Coty Tussy Helena Rubinstein Yardley Bourjois MaxFactor Rimmel Avon Maybelline
1.12 3.88 1.72
5.4
1.72
4.76
0
3.44 1.02
0
11.73 2.91 8.05
8.49
5.17
3.17
8.82
6.9 2.04
8.96

Table E Occurrence of Alliteration (whole text)

Alliteration

Du Barry Coty Tussy Helena Rubinstein Yardley Bourjois MaxFactor Rimmel Avon Maybelline
9
2
10
3
5
2
2
3
4
2

Table F Images Used

Image of Product
Image of Model
Other Images

Du Barry Coty Tussy Helena Rubinstein Yardley Bourjois MaxFactor Rimmel Avon Maybelline
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
N
Y
Y
N
N
N
N

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Table G - Repetition
Number of Words Repeated
(whole text)
Average Number of Times a Word is Repeated
(per 100 words)

Du Barry Coty Tussy Helena Rubinstein Yardley Bourjois MaxFactor Rimmel Avon Maybelline
7
4
7
8
4
2
4
3
6
5
2.47

2.91

2.21

1.88

2.8

5.56

5.88

8.05 2.72

3.88

Table H Use of Figures & Statistics

Figures & Statistics

Du Barry Coty Tussy Helena Rubinstein Yardley Bourjois MaxFactor Rimmel Avon Maybelline
N
Y
Y
N
N
Y
N
Y
Y
Y

Table I Total Number of Words

Number of Words

Du Barry Coty Tussy Helena Rubinstein Yardley Bourjois MaxFactor Rimmel Avon Maybelline
179
103
174
259
116
63
34
29
98
67

Theme 2 - Values and Attitudes

Below I have included quotes from each advert that reflect certain values
and attitudes. I will explain these in more depth in my explanation.
Yardley

Economy - thriftiness - $1

Patriotism repetition of English

Class H. M. Queen Mary

Helena Rubinstein

Economy thriftiness - 1.00

Importance of authority - world-famous artist-scientist

Employment protective veil

Status New York

Tussy

Patriotism - brave, fighting

Role of women - for him

Employment - dust, grime

Economy thriftiness - $1

Status New York

Coty

Self-improvement - more, change your lipstick life

Economy thriftiness - $1

Collectivist Join the millions

Employment protect

Education/Class parching

Du Barry

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Patriotism - military

Prescriptivism - right

Economy thriftiness - Large box

Education/Class vivacious

Maybelline

Sexuality - captivating

Role of women - Maybe shes born with it, maybe its Maybelline

Status New York

Materialism Fall under its spell

Avon

Self-improvement - more, glossiest

Rebellion temptations

Rimmel

Class London

Self-improvement - more

Status - Lasting impression

Rebellion Make your mark

Maxfactor

Role of women Be brilliant, be beautiful

Materialism Be brilliant, be beautiful

Importance of authority expertly matched

Bourjois

Post-modernism Say goodbye to hair sticking to your gloss

Class Paris

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Description
Theme 1
Table A The table shows how often three types of lexis occur. In terms
of specialist terms, there is a higher proportion used in the 1940s adverts,
however, this is often because words such as rouge are repeated several
times throughout the texts. Contrastingly, there is a higher proportion of
scientific lexis used in the 2000s adverts. Unsurprisingly, both sets of
adverts use a high proportion of adjectives. The adjectives that are used,
however, are quite different from gay and saucy in the 1940s to fresh
and unique in the 2000s.
Table B The table shows the number of literary devices used throughout
the texts. It is hard to compare, as the Helena Rubinstein advert is
significantly longer than the Rimmel advert and, therefore, it is
understandable that more literary devices are used. Looking at the advert,
it appears that the literary devices were used as a common feature in the
1940s. In contrast, literary devices are now used as part of a theme. For
example, the Maybelline advert focuses on the idea of magic and uses
literary devices to create a relationship between the product and the idea
of magic. The product is deemed an elixir, rather than a lipstick or
lipgloss.
Table C The table shows a significant difference between the types of
sentences used in the texts. The 1940s texts use more exclamatory
sentences than the 2000s texts, whereas, the 2000s texts use more
imperative sentences than the 1940s texts.
Table D - The table shows how often the reader is directly addressed
compared to how often others are mentioned. As you can see, there is a
not significant difference. However, there are some differences when you
look at the terms used to describe others. The 1940s adverts tend to
refer to other people such as women and him, whereas; the 2000s do
not. Both sets of adverts particularly focus on the brand name e.g. Avon
and repeat this several times.
Table E The table shows the number of times alliteration has been used
within the text. It seems to occur more in the older adverts; however,
given the number of words in each text, it is likely to average at the same
amount.
Table F The table shows that more images were used in the older
adverts. However, the quality of the adverts is higher in the newer adverts
and they also consume a higher proportion of space on the advert.
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Table G The table shows how often a word or phrase is repeated. There
is a significant difference, with more repetition occurring in the newer
advertisements. This is often the brand name e.g. Maybelline and the
product name e.g. Watershine Elixir.
Table H The table shows whether figures and statistics are used within
the text. It is more common of those texts from the 2000s. There is also a
difference in the type of figures and statistics used. The older adverts use
figures to show the number of shades available, for example, whereas the
newer adverts use figures and statistics to make claims about the product,
for example, up to 8hrs wear.
Table I The table shows the number of words that have been used in
each of the advertisements that I have looked at. As you can see, there is
a significant difference in the number of words used in the adverts from
the 1940s compared to the number of words used in the adverts from the
2000s. The results range from 29 words being used in the Rimmel advert
compared to 259 words being used in the Helena Rubinstein advert.
Theme 2
The data shows clear trends in the values and attitudes reflected in the
adverts from the different eras. The older adverts convey a society that
believes in prescriptivism, patriotism, respecting authority and being
spendthrift. Todays adverts, however, convey a post-modern society,
where manufacturers are highly competitive due to the dominance of
materialism. A particularly prominent difference is the role of women in
both the home and the workplace. Whilst women have always been
encouraged to improve themselves, the idea of why this should happen
has changed from being for him to for you. The 1940s adverts also
reflect the types of job that the women had at that point, whereas the
adverts from the 2000s dont tend to reflect this. Another clear difference
is who the product is aimed at. The 1940s adverts are aimed at an older,
wealthier, educated audience, whereas the adverts from the 2000s have
a wider appeal.
Explanation
One sociolinguistic explanation of why language has changed is the
impact of new inventions and advances in technology. I think that this
could be applied to these adverts because the 1940s adverts consisted of
illustrations of products, whereas the 2000s adverts show photographs of
products. This has meant that manufacturers can easily sell a product
through imagery, whereas before this technological advance they had to
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rely on words. This may account for some of the noted language
differences, particularly the length of the text.
The use of images also reflects changes in lifestyle from the 1940s to the
present day. Today we spend little of our time reading, often claiming that
we are too busy, whereas reading was a valued pastime in the 1940s.
Therefore, it is understandable that todays advertisements would rely on
images to sell the product because they may only be viewed for a few
seconds and a large image is going to have more of an impact on the
reader than a lengthy text.
This lifestyle change reflects the post-modern society that we now live in.
Companies are willing to spend thousands of pounds on advertising and it
must therefore be an investment. However, as we are constantly being
bombarded by messages and images, it has meant that companies are
highly competitive with one another, fuelled by the capitalist drive for
profit. This explains the constant comparison to other goods, for example,
the phrase say goodbye to hair sticking to your gloss that is used
Bourjois advert, implies that other lip products cause your hair to stick to
your gloss and therefore makes this product sound better than other
products that are similar. These have been identified as unspoken
promises (Bolinger). The US Federal Trade Commission looked at dealing
with these unspoken promises, however, the ambiguity of the language
used in the advertisements allows companies to meet legal requirements
from publishers, whilst still influencing the consumer. For example, the
Rimmel advert uses the phrase 50% more colour. This may sound
appealing to the consumer, even though the advertisement does not
clarify the claim - 50% more colour than what? One advertiser argued,
You would have to do away with all perfume and cosmetic
advertisements. Youre selling a woman a bottle of promise.
The advertisements that I have used all come from similar womens
magazines. These magazines offer advice on how to be a better wife,
mother, lover, daughter, friend and employee. Therefore, it is not
surprising that the adverts also focus on self-improvement. This can be
seen in the use of superlatives glossiest and comparatives more. These
terms play on feminine anxieties about wanting to be the best you can
possibly be, which have been derived from a constant surveillance by self
and others. The adverts imply that by buying the product and making a
surface alteration, this will somehow transform your whole life and
personality. Adverts have an almost formulaic structure: ordinary woman
+ product = the clichd new you. The adverts play on both a womans
desire, i.e. I could look that good and a womans guilt, i.e. Why dont I
look that good?
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This also relates to language change because the dominant ideology held
in todays society is that money can buy you happiness and this accounts
for why people are very materialistic. Contrastingly, in the 1940s, people
could be happy without money. It was more important to be married and
have a family. This is why the 1940s advertisements place such a high
importance on pleasing a partner.
The post-modernist era has developed through politics in many ways. For
example, in the late 1960s early 1970s, there was a rise in feminism.
Feminists were particularly concerned with the images of women, as they
were seen as possessions of men, rather than individuals. This was the
cause of famous protests in America, such as the protest against beauty
pageants. Another focus was the portrayal of women in cultural products.
This, therefore, affected advertising and has slightly altered the way that
women are perceived in advertisements today.
Possibly the most influential cause of language change is the role of
women in society. In the 1940s men were seen as superior to women.
This meant that women were expected to please men and part of this
involved putting effort into their appearance in order to make themselves
look beautiful for their partner. However, as the war progressed, the role
of women began to change. This was because women had to fulfil the
roles that men, who were fighting in the war, by taking on jobs such as
engineering, for example. In 1939, only 10% of the engineering workforce
consisted of women. However, by 1943, this figure had risen to 34%. This
was one of the first stages of women having equal rights to men. In
todays society, men and women are almost treated equally, for example,
we all have the right to vote. The result of this is that women are now
more individualistic and this is reflected in the adverts from the 2000s.
These adverts encourage you to buy the product in order to look good and
feel good about yourself, rather than to please a man.
The war has clearly influenced the advertisements from the 1940s. Hence
the use of lexis such as emblem and fighting. The inclusion of such lexis
in an advert for lipstick demonstrates how women were encouraged to be
patriotic during the war. So, how can a lipstick encourage patriotism? It
has been suggested that there are implied meanings in adverts (Geis
1982). For example, the Tussy advertisement says new brave lipstick
color by Tussy. This implies that the colour of the lipstick is brave and
therefore by wearing the lipstick you are also brave. Being brave has
obvious connotations of war and therefore a link is made between the
lipstick and being patriotic.

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Red lipstick was particularly prominent in the 1940s because women were
forced to work whilst the men were at war. The red lipstick allowed the
women to retain a degree of femininity whilst working. Maintaining a
feminine identity is also reflected in the language of the adverts from the
1940s. It has been identified that part of achieving a feminine identity
comes from correctness. Several of the 1940s advertisements use the
term right, which reinforces this idea. This would have been more
prevalent in the 1940s advertisements, compared to todays
advertisements because society in the 1940s believed in prescriptivism.
The advertisements from the 2000s are much less focused on
prescriptivism, encouraging rebellion from social norms, using terms such
as temptations and phrases such as, make your mark. This may be due
to differing religious patterns, as in the 1940s most people had strong
religious beliefs, which often emphasised prescriptivism. In contrast,
todays society is places much less emphasis on the importance of
religion, which may explain why attitudes towards prescriptivism have
been reduced. However, I think that todays advertisements still reinforce
the idea of achieving a feminine identity through correctness, as there is
a lack of slang and colloquialisms, which is surprising given that the target
audience of such products has become much wider.
The change in audience accounts for many of the differences between the
two sets of texts. In the 1940s, make-up was mostly aimed at an older,
wealthier audience, as it was an item of choice not necessity. Whereas,
make-up today is aimed at a younger audience of varying class,
depending on the brand of the product. This reflects the choice of lexis
and length of text in the 1940s advertisements, as the audience were
likely to have been well educated and would be influenced by the words
used. General terms and images are relied upon more today, so that a
general audience can understand what is being put across.
Both sets of adverts place a focus on status. For example, three of the
cities that you would most associate with prestige (New York, Paris and
London) are mentioned in several of the newer adverts and the queen is
even referenced to in the Yardley advertisement. This supports Labov
and Trudgills theory of status conciousness. This term describes how
women do not invest status from paid work, as family is more important,
so women achieve status from possessions, appearance and speech
instead.
Another key difference between the two adverts is the emphasis on
economy. In all of the older advertisements, the cost of the product is
mentioned, e.g. $1, or the size of the product, e.g. large box. Each time
the economy is mentioned, it encourages people to be thrifty. This reflects
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the society in the 1940s because the war meant that money was limited
and rationing occurred, which meant that people had to learn the value of
money. In todays society, money is widely available through the use of
credit cards, for example, and being in debt is a social norm. Therefore,
there is no need for advertisements to emphasise the economic benefits
of a product, as the average user wouldnt worry about how much the
product costs.
Also, the Maybelline advert supports the idea that more recent adverts
have tried to diverge away from traditional methods of advertising and
have tried to imitate other genres. This can be seen in the Maybelline
advert, as it almost tells a story about a magic potion performing a
miracle using metaphorical language such as elixir and intoxicating.
This could also indicate the use of metaphorical gender. In French, nouns
are deemed feminine or masculine. This has meant that certain nouns
have connotations of being masculine or feminine. For example, knife is
typically associated with being masculine, whilst fork is typically
associated with being feminine. The term magic is feminine in French,
therefore, the advert may use metaphorical gender in order to attract
the target audience.
Conclusion:
I have found that there is a significant difference between the language
used in the lipstick adverts from the 1940s compared to the more recent
adverts. The language used in both advertisements reflects society at that
given time. For example, the significance of war or looking young in the
1940s and being an individual or living in a consumerist society in the
newer adverts. The language used also reflects the changes that have
occurred in society within the past 40 years. For example, the advances in
technology and the changing roles of women. The findings support my
hypothesis that the selling strategies and values and attitudes in the
advertisements reflect two very different audiences from two very
different societies.
Bibliography:
Books:

Teach Yourself Linguistics Jean Aitchison

Women in Britain 1900-2000 Annette Mayer

Get Set for English Language - Christine Robinson

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Describing Language David Graddol, Jenny Cheshire and Joan

Swann

The Language of Advertising Angela Goddard

Fashions of a Decade: The 1940s Patricia Baker

Language: The Loaded Weapon Dwight Bolinger

Feminism and Linguistic Theory Deborah Cameron

Verbal Hygiene Deborah Cameron

HSFC: Language and Power

HSFC: Language Change

Websites:

http://www.channel4.com/life/microsites/M/make_up/decades_t.ht
ml#1940

http://fashion-era.com/make_up.htm#Helena%20Rubenstein

http://www.fashion-era.com/utility_clothing.htm#Make%20Up
%201940's

http://www.freebeautytips.org/fortiesstyles.html

http://www.adaccess.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_home_front_during_World_W
ar_II#Role_of_women

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