Clinque's Homogeneous Ad Campaign

This past week Clinique sponsored an Instagram post advertising their Lush Life cosmetics line. The advertisement, a compilation of four different women attempts to show that the new line is a versatile product for many different women with different lifestyles. At first glance, however, the four images are barely distinguishable from one another. Upon closer inspection the viewer can see that each segment is a different woman with very slight physical differences from one another. The use of 4 extremely similar, white, young, beautiful models reinforces the homogenization of the beauty industry. What the advertisement is actually saying is that Clinique's Lush Life products will work for you and your diverse lifestyle, so long as you're white and young. The lack of diversity in this ad exposes the symbolic annihilation of women of color from the beauty industry. A lack of representation reinforces the idea that everyone must look the same, continuing the cycle of conformity and body image issues when people don't look like the models they see on screen.