<object width=”640″ height=”390″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/AW8MNRWxXR4&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3″></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowScriptAccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/AW8MNRWxXR4&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowfullscreen=”true” allowScriptAccess=”always” width=”640″ height=”390″></embed></object>
According to ancient rhetoricians there are four qualities of style that separate an effective style of writing from a less effective one. The assignment in English 328 was to use these categories of style to analyze the effectiveness of a current television commercial. Is it possible to use criteria created over 2,000 years ago to determine if a million dollar Madison Avenue made commercial has used these criteria effectively? An Outlast Lipstain advertisement by Cover Girl was chosen to be analyzed. This commercial features actress Drew Barrymore as the spokesperson. The setting of this commercial is completely white stage and background. Drew is the only character that appears in the commercial. The categories that will be reviewed are correctness, clearness, appropriateness and ornament. This paper will prove that the four qualities of style established over 2,000 can still be applied to multi-medial today to determine style and effectiveness.
The first two categories used to determine style are correctness and clarity. Crowley and Hawhee write that correctness means that writers “should use words that are current and should adhere to the grammatical rules of whatever language they used” (231). Clarity is the ability to let the meaning or the intent of the message shine through. Along with grammatical correctness, writers also need to use words and vocabulary that are currently being used by society. Words should be free from being viewed as too hip, trendy, or faddish. The Cover Girl commercial achieves clarity through clear and concise wording that has appeal across a broad spectrum of cultures. The concise terms “marker” and “pen” imply that this is a product that will provide precision application and permanent coverage. Cover Girl refers to their product as “lipmagic.” In the book, Quintilian advised against “neologism” the practice of coining new words for fear that the public will not understand them (232). Cover Girl overcomes possible objections by creating a word with a definition that is self evident. This new lip color has staying power – that has never been achieved before. Therefore, it must be something like “magic.” According to the definitions of correctness and clarity, the Cover girl commercial can be said to have used the categories correctly and effectively.
The third element of style is appropriateness. According to Crowley and Hawhee, “Appropriateness probably derives from the Greek rhetorical notion to prepon; meaning to say or do whatever is fitting in a given situation” (232). The writer is cautioned to use more than text/words when determining appropriateness. Body language, facial expressions, posture and gait should also be taken into consideration as to what kind of message is being displayed, despite what words are being said. Cover Girl does a great job in keeping the commercial appropriate for its audience of women of all ages. This commercial features a beautiful actress with gorgeously stunning and colorful lips. It would be easy to cross the very thin line between what is tasteful and what could be considered suggestive. The advertisement stars Drew Barrymore. She is like the girl next door – all grown up. The commercial is fun and flirty. In full screen she is shown dancing and moving about. She moves a billowing scarf around her body and above her head. This physical image helps supply meaning to the “light as air” reference and is also a play to the Cover Girls slogan of “easy, breezy, beautiful Cover Girl.” Another aspect of appropriateness that must be considered is the general attitudes and community standards of behavior of the audience. Overall, this commercial is presented in the middle style of appropriateness. It doesn’t use plain or ordinary words, but the words or structure are not sophisticated enough to be classified as grand. Nor is it a simple conversation that could be an indication of the plain classification of language. The clothing, wording, body movements and language used keep this advertisement appropriate not only for women, but for people of all ages.
The last and most complex category of style is ornament. Crowley and Hawhee refer to this as “the most important of excellences of style” (235). Ornament means that the language has the characteristics of being unusual or extraordinary. Three subcategories of ornament are: figures of thought, figures of language and tropes. While figures are varied in sentence structure, tropes contain the characterization of substituting of one word or phrase for another. This commercial is made up of two different types of sentence structure; paratactic and periodic. Paratactic is described as having words in the usual order, with the main point of the sentence being first. A few of these sentences are: “Read my lips.” “This is not a lipstick” and “It’s lip magic in a marker.” Periodic sentence structure is defined as not having the meaning come at the beginning, but may be distributed among several parts of the sentence. An example of a periodic sentence is, “Colorful, original, but never one to get in a sticky situation, that’s Outlast Lipstain from Cover Girl.” These two types of sentences help to keep the commercial sounding well balanced and not stilted or stuffy.
Figures of language and thought are used many times in the commercial. Repetition, calling attention to words or ideas, is one example of a figure of language that is used in this commercial. A word for “something that colors the lips” is used nine different times; some of those words are: lipstick, lipwear, lipstain, and lipmagic. While this type of repetition doesn’t have a specific name according to the definitions listed on page 243, I think it is important to mention that the uses of these same but differentiated words keeps the attention of the viewer focused on the lips and what this “magic” lipwear can do.
Another example of a figure is, “Light as air lipwear that does what a lipstick can’t,” contains the simile “light as air.” Crowley and Hawhee state that a simile is an explicit comparison between two things using like or as (229). The stain is being compared to the weight of air. This sentence also uses the device of metonomy in that it names something with a word or phrase closely associated with it (257). Lipwear can signify lipstick. It also uses alliteration, the beginning ‘L’ sound in light and lipstick (glossary). It also contains the element of assonance, (the repetition of the same sounding words close to each other; air/wear (glossary). Lipstick wearers want don’t want a feeling of heaviness on their lips.
An example of a trope is the sentence “The precision pen glides over lips with a flush of sheer color.” This paints a more vivid picture of the user having perfectly applied lipstick that can’t be achieved with a just a lipstick. This trope is a form of a periphrasis. (p.257) Quintilian defines uses of this figure as “whatever might have been expressed with great brevity, but is expanded for purpose of ornament.” This also seems to be more of a grand style of a sentence, using the more formal words “glide,” “precision pen,” and “flush” where a more common simpler word would do. Precision pen is another example of alliteration with the hard P sound.
The final analysis of this commercial is of the sentence, “Read my lips.” This is a bold paradox that seems to stand out exponentially from the commercial. When someone says, “Read my lips,” they don’t really mean that they are going to just mouth the words. It is to mean that what is about to be said will be very important. The viewer of this commercial can also interpret the meaning that way, but also in the opposite of that, because the viewer really can “read” her lips and see that the application, coverage and color of the stain is flawless. I think that this is the most powerful and convincing sentence in the whole commercial. Consumers are going to want to have beautifully colored lips just like Drew’s.
The effective use of correctness, clarity, appropriateness and ornament in this advertisement according to the definitions and rules set forth over 2,000 years ago, make this Cover Girl commercial extremely successful. Not only can we apply these ancient elements to modern media, but they can also be used in almost all forms of literature, both past and present. Elements of effective style, as set forth by ancient rhetoricians, it seems, never go out of style!
Works Cited
Crowley, Shannon, and Debra Hawhee. Ancient Rhetorics for Contemporary Students. 3rd ed. N.p.: Longman, 2003. 228-63. Web. Oct. 2010.
“A Glossary of Rhetorical Terms with Examples.” University of Kentucky, 2004. Web. 27 Sept. 2010.
