Wider reading on Sephora Black Beauty Is Beauty
1) What was Sephora trying to achieve with the campaign?
To advance racial equity in the beauty and retail sectors.
2) What scenes from the advert are highlighted as particularly significant in the articles?
The scenes that included a beauty parlor, a drag show dressing room, and a Black mother with her daughter.
3) As well as YouTube, what TV channels and networks did the advert appear on?
BET, OWN Hulu and HBO Max.
4) Why does the Refinery29 article suggest the advert 'doesn't feel performative'?
No one feels left out. The film has more inclusion in its under-a-minute runtime than two hour features have in their whole film.
5) What is the 15 per cent pledge and why is it significant?
Sephora pledges at least 15% of their shelves for Black-owned brands. Sephora is leading through words, actions, and money for Black beauty innovators.
Advertising agency feature
1) Why did Sephora approach R/GA to develop the advert?
Sephora came to R/GA ready to do something about racial equity in the beauty industry. They had already commissioned a study on racial bias in retail and was making plans to combat bias in its own stores.
2) What was the truth that R/GA helped Sephora to share?
Helped Sephora share a truth Black people have known forever: The ingenuity and influence of Black people have led to many of the beauty trends, ingredients, tools, and language we all enjoy.
3) How did the advert 'rewrite the narrative'?
The work was equal parts thesis and campaign spelling out the influence of Black beauty culture on mainstream beauty. An editorial partnership with The Cut and an SEM takeover allowed us to continue sharing that history and giving Black beauty culture the credit it deserved.
Sephora website: Black Beauty Is Beauty
1) How does Sephora introduce the campaign?
"At Sephora, we believe in championing all beauty, living with courage, and standing fearlessly together to celebrate our differences." They introduced the brand in a way to make the brand feel homey and comfortable to the customers.
2) What statistics are highlighted on the website?
-3% of brands at major beauty retailers are Black owned.
-<1% of venture capital funding goes to Black-owned businesses.
-78% of shoppers across the retail industry don’t see enough brands owned by or made for people of colour.
-2 in 5 shoppers across the retail industry have personally experienced unfair treatment on the basis of their race or skin colour.
3) What do we learn about Garrett Bradley - the director of the advert?
Garrett is an American artist and filmmaker whose work focuses on themes including race, class, and the history of film in the US.
Media language: textual analysis
1) How does the advert use camerawork to communicate key messages about the brand?
There are many close up's and establishing shots. The close up are classic conventions of beauty advertising - both close ups of faces and products.
The medium shot of the kitchen portrays domestic familiarity.
There is a lot of camera movement and it creates meanings of Sephora moving with the times (the constant movement of culture)
Perhaps reflects the attention spam of the tiktok generation + expectation of sharing on social media.
The grid of close-ups emphasises the diversity of the heart of the advert.
2) How is mise-en-scene used to create meanings about black beauty and culture?
The props are a classic convention of beauty advertising with hairbrushes , products , eyeshadow ect...
The setting and lighting creates real warmth and love (reflects the voiceover) includes the living room, bedroom , kitchen and hair salon.
3) How is editing used to create juxtapositions and meanings in the advert?
There is picture a split screen and animated diagram which gives a historical background and shows us how the mainstream techniques originated from Black people. The animated diagram is used to highlight the fact the hairbrush was invented by a Black woman Lyda Newman.
The picture in picture reflects modern culture and digital landscape - YT , videocalls ect...
4) How are verbal codes used to create meanings in the advert - the voiceover and text on screen?
' There'd be no cut creases or beat faces without these legendary icons'
- Specific techniques that have come from Black culture
'.. if they didn't turn doing it yourself into doing it for the culture'
- giving black creators credit for techniques that have become mainstream
- social and cultural contexts - a reference to BLM and diversity agenda?
- it's about brand marketing for Sephora
' it's time we all give Black beauty the credit it deserves'
-message of advert / purpose campaign
- social and cultural contexts : reversing years of racism or under representation
'Join Sephora in supporting and celebrating Black beauty'
- 'join' is an imperative that is almost asking the audience to pick a side in culture / 'woke' debate
- reflects social media age : join/share/ celebrate ( calling for action0
- also perhaps designed to repair Sephora's reputation after racial profiling scandal
5) What is the overall message of the advert?
To credit Black beauty and make its influence reach wider audiences
Media factsheet
1) Look at the exam hint on the first page. How does Sephora as a brand and the CSP specifically reflect contemporary social and cultural contexts?
Sephora does this by emphasising the importance of commemorating diversity.
This further adds to the ongoing movement towards representation in thee med the Black mainstream conventions.
2) Media theory: how are Butler, Gauntlett, bell hooks and Gilroy applied to the CSP?
Butler - Butler's theory of 'Gender fluidity' states that gender is a performance and it shown in the CSP where drag queens, that are male, perform traditionally female rituals by applying make-up.
Gauntlett - He states how identity is not fixed and audiences can use media texts to help shape ourselves. The text provides the audience in ways that they could represent their identity.
bell hooks - Her theory of intersectionality states how different types of discrimination work together to shape people's lives and experiences. In the advert, attracts a diverse audience and all the females' features are people of colour.
3) What aspects of media language are highlighted on page 3 of the factsheet?
As the advert starts, the scene is established in a beauty salon for black women. The camera pans across the salon in a typically fluid motion. Medium close-up shots of the tools of the “trade” are used to communicate the idea that beauty comprises many elements that can be attributed to black origins. The advert then utilises split screens and mirror shots to provide origin stories for tools and to showcase the products in action, creating a binary opposition between old versus new. There are parallels drawn between black beauty inventions, history, current trends, and beauty products. A close-up of a hairbrush is shown, which was patented by Lyda Newman, an African American activist and hairdresser who invented the bristle hairbrush.
4) How does the factsheet summarise the advert on the final page?
Overall, the advert deviates from the conventional focus on individual products or brands and instead centres on the message of inclusivity and diversity. The audience is encouraged to relate to the depicted images of people in their own homes, bedrooms, and beauty salons, implying that this positivity is associated with the Sephora brand.
5) What are the four ideologies in advertising highlighted in task 8 on the final page of the factsheet? In your opinion, do you feel the Sephora CSP advert challenges or reinforces each of these?
Consumerism - The Sephora CSP challenges this idea because its is not focused on the acqusiion of consumer goods but instead the message on diversity.
Identity - The CSP reinforces this by embracing the identities of the people's different features , cultural backgrounds and different hair/make-up.
Capitalism - The CSP may hint at capitalism through their products. Sephora is possible using these people of colour to promote their products and build a better image rather than try and acknowledge the Black conventions
Gender Fluidity- The CSP highlights this in which they show a man performing traditionally female rituals by applying make- up
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