Cover Girl: Silk Foundation

The advertising technique of Testimonial is being applied in this Cover Girl commercial.  Taylor Swift is purposely featured in the commercial to endorse the products being advertised.  Taylor is a popular singer who is admired widely for her songs, personality, and beauty.  She has millions of fans and by including her in the advertisement, Cover Girl is attracting that much more attention by having Taylor Swift endorse the products of the cosmetic company.  

The appearance of Taylor Swift in this commercial is also appealing to the need for affiliation.  Taylor is an extremely popular singer with millions of fans worldwide.  Many people look up to her and want to gain the popularity that she possess.  Cover Girl is trying to persuade consumers that if they use the foundation or lip balm that they are selling in this ad, people will gain more friends.  They are persuaded that they can be more like the celebrity by using the make-up being advertised, which will attract them with more friends.  Due to the popular Taylor Swift endorsing the products, consumers see themselves as becoming more popular with the usage of the cosmetics.  

With the featuring of Taylor Swift, the fallacy of "ad populum" is being used.  Consumers are persuaded into believing that they too should use Cover Girl's silk foundation since the popular celebrity uses it.  Millions of her fans are then mesmerized into buying the cosmetic since they want to be just like their favorite celebrity.  They do not actually know if the foundation really is lighter on the skin.  All they know is that Taylor uses it and because of this, consumers want to purchase it.  Due to the celebrity accepting the usage of the foundation, people are persuaded that they should too.  

Another technique that is being applied in the advertisement is Simple Solutions.  Millions of people want a foundation that isn't heavy on their skin, easy to apply, and makes them look beautiful.  They don't want a foundation that makes their skin appear "cakey" nor unnatural.  Consumers are looking for a simple solution to all of these problems, which this commercial fulfills.  Cover Girl is subjugating how their foundation is very light and makes the skin appear flawless.  They attack the problems of heaviness and the skin appearing "cakey" with one solution; their  silk foundation.  

The target market of this commercial is females.  Women are the ones who are interested in make-up and beautifying themselves up.  They want to purchase cosmetics for their personal usage, such as making themselves prettier.  Females are the majority or are all of Cover Girl's customers.  Males do not generally purchase make-up nor are they interested in it at all.  Females, on the other hand, are highly interested in cosmetics and compare different make-up brands as to which one works or looks the best.  Therefore, Cover Girl's main marketing target is definitely females since they are the ones who desire purchasing cosmetics and are interested in it.