The Fresh and Aluminum Free Secret deodorant ad can be found in The July/August cover of Essence magazine. The secret advertisement featured Camilla Mendes, a famous Brazillian actress who is known for her role of Veronica Lodge in the CW’s hit show Riverdale. The headline of the ad is “Fresh & Aluminum Free” in big and bold lettering. This ad seeks to exploit any insecurities about smelling bad or using products that may be bad for your skin.

Camilla is shown with her arms up and very smooth looking skin. The ad also contains a smaller photo of the actual deodorant with flowers drawn around it and a symbol that shows it is cruelty free. The cruelty-free symbol will be appreciated by those against animal testing and using a newly popular actress will appeal to younger and impressionable teenage girls. Although it is not shown in this magazine, the campaign also uses actress Shenae Grimes-Beech, Olympic gold medalist Swin Cash, singer Jessie Rayez and fitness influencer Ainsley Rodriguez to appeal to their target audience. The target audience of this campaign is women between the ages of 25-49 who have an established, steady income. These women are also single, do not have any children, and live in the Midwest or Southern regions. The target audience is also girls in adolescence who are experiencing changes in their body who will need to start wearing antiperspirant.

The language of the ad is not degrading and it does not have the intent of making you feel insecure. Instead, this campaign really focuses on self-confidence building and creating strong women. Although a beautiful actress like Camilla as the cover may make a woman feel bad about herself, the photo is not sexualizing or inappropriate. The language talks more about the information of the product instead of making a woman paranoid or insecure about how she may smell. It makes sure to say that it is paraben, dye and talc free and that it eliminates odor instead of just masking it. “Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman,” is the slogan of the brand. This slogan does not sugarcoat that women can sweat just as much, or even worse than men, which lets the audience know this brand is also about equality. This campaign also includes a lot of diversity by featuring Latino, Hispanic, black and white celebrities as the stars of the campaign. This specific ad only includes Camilla, who is latino, but she is not the only cover-girl of this campaign. Not only do they include diversity in race, but it is included in profession and interests. A gold medal Olympian and a fitness influencer will appeal to sportier and athletic girls while singers and actresses will appeal to the girls and women who look up to them. Everyone’s body is different but deodorant is a pretty universal product and their diverse choice of cover-girls helps to show that.

 

This ad has a very logical attempt at advertising their product. They do not sexualize the woman or create insecurities with their language. They provide a decent amount of information which will lead the audience to believe Secret is better than any other brand of deodorant. They make sure to show the product is fresh, free of parabens, dyes and talc, cruelty-free, aluminum free, and available in several different scents. The ad does not use much of an emotional attempt, but using an actress like Camilla can bring out an insecurity in girls. Camilla’s fan base consists of a lot of young and impressionable girls that strive to be like her. Camilla was a smart marketing tool considering there are thousands of girls who want to be just like her. The specific ad in this magazine does contain ethos considering Camilla is Latino, but the entire campaign is pretty ethnically diverse. It is always great to see companies using stars of all religions, colors, shapes and sizes and it shows how much further we have come in inclusivity in the media and marketing. The company is also very open about standing for equality, strong and independent women and body positivity throughout their campaigns.