Pantene Ebony & Cosmo

No matter who you are or where you're from, there is no secret that women of all ages and races love and care about their hair. Most women see their hair as their trademark or what makes them unique. With this being said, hair care products are a booming business. According to Report Linker, close to 40% of all hair care product sales are for shampoo. Pantene, a staple in the hair care industry since the 1940s caters to various demographics.

The first Pantene ad, found in the February 2013 issue of Cosmo shows Courtney Cox with beautiful brown, flowing hair. It boasts of Pantene's Expert Collection's Advanced + Keratin formula. Since Cosmo's target audience is the fashion-forward, single white female, upper to middle class, age 18-39. This audience is one of the most active in the haircare market so what better place to advertise.

The second Pantene ad was found in the February 2013 issue of Ebony magazine. It features a picture of an unknown African-American woman with healthy looking long to medium length dark hair. This woman represents many of the women in the African-American community with her looks alone. The copy reads, "MOISTURIZE MY HAIR BUT DON'T WEIGH ME DOWN". This statement is very important to the African-American woman when looking for hair care products as we do tend to have dry hair but don;t want it too oily because that will weigh it down and prevent it from bouncing and/or blowing in the wind. Ebony too is targeted toward single women, but this time African-American in race, ages 18-35.

The ads differ because each ad uses copy that will have some sort of appeal to the audience in which the magazine is targeting. The style use pictures of women with beautiful healthy-looking hair and visuals of the product and bottles at the bottom of the page and Pantene in nice bold letters in a very noticeable spot on the page. Each ad uses a woman that would appeal to and is relateable to the audience it is in front of.

-Cassandra Magny