Due to COVID-19, many young people have felt scared and isolated from what has been happening around the world. About 56.2% of people at the ages of 18 to 24 have reported having anxiety or falling into depression. Many people did experience mental health illness before the pandemic; but since, it’s have gotten worse for a lot of people. Leaving one’s home was a big risk because one could’ve contracted the virus and put others in danger. But then, eventually, everything became virtual like doctor’s appointments, going to school, and even therapy counseling. More ways opened up how to be there for one another during hard times. An advertisement for BetterHelp that appears on Instagram promotes a way for young people to talk to a therapist about their problems. This advertisement is an effective way to reach the audience through a celebrity that young people can relate to by her appearance in the advertisement, the use of her hand motions, and the structure of the text along with the diction and tone.
Whose that girl?
Victoria Justice, the speaker in the advertisement, is a well-known actress, especially to the younger generation. She is known from her supporting role in Zoey 101 and then being the main lead in Victorious on the Nickelodeon television channel. Her roles in these shows portrayed her as being funny, kind, exciting, a singer, and an entertainer. Recently she has released a new song called “Treat Myself.” In this song, she starts by talking to herself and putting herself down often and says,” I’m my own worst enemy.” As the song goes on, she speaks more about how she needs to treat herself better and only worry about herself since she does not do that often. In the advertisement, Victoria is trying to promote a way of helping others through a website she has partnered with called “BetterHelp.” If more celebrities speak out on their mental health experiences, their fans and many others will also feel comfortable getting help for what they are going through according to “Celebrity Mental Breakdown Proves No One is Immune.” The speaker uses this platform to speak up on mental health because she knows many younger people look up to her and will take her advice to get better. This shows even though she has fame, celebrities like her still care about their supporters because everyone goes through a lot of hard situations in their lives. Her advertisement is only a minute and nine seconds but provides a sufficient amount of information.
Example 1: it pops out!
When scrolling through Instagram, not many people notice a lot of advertisements that are being shown but this one stands out. The first thing someone will notice is the speaker, Justice, a young, beautiful woman in the center. She is being seen on the screen with a red, velvet-like dress on. It’s a dark shade of red and has a few black marks here and there. In her article on colors used in advertising, Lindsey Kramer, writes that
“red is an attention-grabbing”
which is why the speaker wore red since she knew it would make the viewers interested in what she had to say. The dress hugs her neck very nicely and it is very striking. The makeup on her face is also very light and nothing too extravagant. Then she had her dark hair that is straightened and lying on her shoulders in two parts. In addition to that, she is wearing small earrings which are not too noticeable unless when the viewer catches them when the speaker is fixing her hair. She also has six rings on, which are all gold with a red color nail polish on her fingers. This look is very professional because the speaker knew exactly what she was trying to do here when wearing a red dress with a simple look.
Example 2: Moving your hands often might be good for you
Throughout the advertisement, one may notice the way the speaker is constantly moving her hands while speaking. She uses hand motion to feel comfortable and so that it isn’t awkward when just speaking in front of a camera. The speaker wants to let the viewers know that she is there for them, and it is also another way to include people in. Carolyn Gregoire states that speaking with your hands is like talking in another language and emphasizing something really important. Writers of another article explain,
“gestures are especially effective because they can both resemble and represent and also embody action”
(Kang and Tversky, 2016). The speaker uses her gestures to show she cares and wants to provide a deeper way of helping someone understand her words. At the very end of this video advertisement, the speaker says,
“I love you all so much so let’s all treat ourselves better”
and then using her hands blows a kiss to the viewers. This is a way of showing that this person does care about everyone and what struggles they are going through. She wanted to be clear of the message she was delivering that way no one is confused about it. By using her hands, she is giving her audience the strength that they will get through this tough time.
Example 3: What’s she saying?
Moving along to the text, one can see that it appears on the screen right on top of the speaker’s red dress. The text is white, with a black shadow and sans serif font. It is very simple because of how well the colors go along with each other and it is not clashing either. The speaker first starts with her personal situation to let the viewers know that she also goes through tough times in her life. After that, she moves into telling what this company, BetterHelp is about and what one has to do to get a therapist. Throughout the ad, the speaker’s diction is very informal, and she uses words like
“gonna” and “you guys.” She also changes the pronouns often to speaking from “I” to “we” to “us” and to “you.”
From this, the viewers can tell that she is having a one-on-one conversation with her audience. This tone makes sure the person is getting the help one needs and attention. Throughout the whole advertisement, the speaker’s tone is very calm, gentle, and happy. The message was thought out very thoroughly in how this speaker will talk to her audience about what she is trying to promote. The way she is keeping a positive tone while speaking makes her viewers feel more comfortable and feel more motivated to go on this website and look into the website, BetterHelp.
BetterHelp is designed to help through celebrities
In conclusion, this advertisement is very effective because of the way the speaker appears on the screen, the use of hand gestures while speaking, and the structure of the message as well as tone and diction. This advertisement promotes mental health for anyone but especially targets a younger audience since it is being advertised on Instagram. Mental health is a very serious matter, which unfortunately is often overlooked. It’s sad, but now there are many resources like BetterHelp, which can help millions of people from the comfort of their homes. Everyone should take advantage of having the opportunity to talk to someone who will guide and help them.