The ‘problem’ of ageing

L'Oréal adverts’ narratives (see Figures 1 and 2) engage discursive strategies often referred to as the ‘problem–solution pattern’ (Hoey, Reference Hoey2001). These discursive strategies are used by L'Oréal to establish that ageing skin is a ‘problem’, and the advertised Age Perfect product is the ‘solution’ (Benwell and Stokoe, Reference Benwell and Stokoe2006). Such a narrative is typical of the images found in cosmetics adverts. In cosmetics advertising, the problem being highlighted is often some element related to the appearance of the female face (e.g. age spots, wrinkles, sagging). The idealised image of the female body in L'Oréal adverts is constructed through the face of a celebrity endorser. The problem–solution model takes as its starting point that older women need to ‘perfect’ the appearance of their skin through the purchase and use of Age Perfect anti-ageing creams (see e.g. Gill, Reference Gill2007; Ringrow, Reference Ringrow2016). The underlying discourse constructs visible signs of ageing as problems which can be ‘cured’.

The structure of Figure 1 follows Kress and van Leeuwen's (Reference Machin and Thornborrow2006) ideal/real composition. In the L'Oréal advert presented in this figure, the celebrity is placed at the top – in the ‘ideal’ position – and the Age Perfect product is positioned at the bottom, in the ‘real’ position. The text is also situated at the bottom of the composition and describes the problem of the appearance of ageing. The following analysis is based on textual data drawn from the advert in Figure 1. The text in the advert in Figure 1 is transcribed in Example 1, below.

The above text describes what appears as the unwanted consequences of becoming older and includes negatively evaluative words to construct the appearance of the ageing female face. The text's reference to ‘fragile’, ‘dry’, ‘thin’, ‘grey’, ‘dull’ and ‘less radiant’ skin (Example 1, lines 1, 2 and 3) suggests the problematic nature of the appearance of ageing. Terms such as ‘fragile’, ‘dry’ and ‘thin’ imply that the subject is damageable or easily broken, and are used to promote fear about old age and its associated changes in a person's body, such as wrinkling, sagging and thinning skin. This fear is not simply about ‘looking old’ but more complicatedly about not looking attractive. Such a discourse supposedly suggests that the use of anti-ageing products such as those advertised here is not only a legitimate but also a necessary part of maintaining physical attractiveness. Women are continuously urged to maintain their physical attractiveness, which Richards et al. (2012: 65) argue is tied to a youthful and sexualised ideal of beauty in Western society. The text's use of words such as ‘grey’, ‘dull’ and ‘less radiant’, with their associations with illness, is indicative of the unwatchability of old age (Woodward, Reference Woodward1991). The underlying suggestion is that the female body is ‘unwatchable’, and solutions must be found to counter or conceal visible signs of ageing (see e.g. Coupland, Reference Coupland, Coupland and Gwyn2003, Reference Coupland2007). In this way, the ageing female face is treated as something that can be ‘cured’ through the purchase of anti-ageing products.

Naturally, the advertised anti-ageing product (see Figure 1) is presented as the ‘solution’ to the problems of ageing. The Age Perfect product is used to give credibility to the ideal, that is, the fantasy at the top (the celebrity). L'Oréal appropriates the ideas, values and meanings attached to the celebrity, i.e. Mirren's glamour and elegance, transferring them to their anti-ageing product. This process of transference makes use of a relationship which already exists in the mind of readers between the signifier (the celebrity) and signified (the appearance of youthful-looking skin) (see e.g. Williamson, Reference Williamson1978). In this way, the ‘real’ (Age Perfect product) can be seen to legitimise what lies in the ‘ideal’ (the celebrity).

Textually, the lexical choices ‘rejuvenate’, ‘luxurious’, ‘sumptuous’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘youthful’ in Example 1 (lines 4, 6 and 7) positively construct the appearance of ageing and emphasise how older women's skin looks or feels better after using anti-ageing products. Although the verb's roots are not explicitly mentioned in the text, the word ‘rejuvenate’ (line 4) and its etymological associations with things that have lost their youth, implies that the process of ageing is something that can and should be resisted. Older women are persuaded to assume responsibility for controlling or reversing visible signs of ageing, specifically through the purchase and use of the advertised ‘corrective’ solution. Women end up ‘buying into’ the pursuit of eternal youth presented to them through cosmetic adverts (Carrigan and Szmigin, Reference Carrigan and Szmigin1999; Richards et al., Reference Richards, Warren and Gott2012). A significant part of how this is achieved by the L'Oréal advert is through the company's claims to have engaged scientists in the manufacturing of their anti-ageing products, as in Example 1. In this text (Example 1), the lexical choices employed suggest that the solution offered is scientised: ‘laboratories’, ‘formulated’, ‘proven science’, ‘experts’ and ‘scientists’ (lines 3, 4 and 5). Age Perfect products are thereby immediately raised to the scientific category because they have been ‘formulated’ by ‘leading skincare experts’ and ‘scientists’ in ‘laboratories’. The authoritative voice generated by the text's reference to scientific experiments validates the claims made by L'Oréal and helps legitimise older women's belief in the power of the anti-ageing products. The voice of science also lends ‘moral authority’ (Coupland, Reference Coupland, Coupland and Gwyn2003: 132) to the advert by asking older consumers not to ignore the problems associated with ageing skin. Instead, the text persuades the reader to assume responsibility for their wellbeing (Ylänne et al., Reference Ylänne, Williams and Wadleigh2009) and to avoid social exclusion; thereby suggesting that good health in later life is fully the choice and responsibility of the individual and that older women who fail to ‘successfully resist ageing’ and embody a ‘glamorous, ageless lifestyle’ (Richards et al., Reference Richards, Warren and Gott2012: 67) are somewhat to blame themselves for bad health. In these ways, the scientised solution offered makes older women feel enabled insofar as they believe that they have the means to be physically attractive and to appear to be youthful: ‘beautiful skin today and more youthful looking skin tomorrow’.

Visually, the focal point of Figure 1 is the face of the celebrity, though, because she is décolleté, much of her neck and upper chest is also visible, as well as part of her arm. In the face must be met all internal expectations of beauty and, indeed, the face is the main canvas on which one can express one's true self (Coupland, Reference Coupland, Coupland and Gwyn2003, Reference Coupland2007). Interestingly, however, the focus of the advertisement in Figure 1 shifts beyond the face and shows the celebrity's upper body, arm and hand as well. Such a decision may be because the designers intended to acknowledge the existence of the whole body rather than the more usual decontextualised face. The effect, encoded in the general message to the viewer, is that beauty does not reside only in the face but in the whole person as well, and could be a way to make older women embrace their ageing wholly. The image in Figure 1 describes how the celebrity uses the anti-ageing products to ‘perfect’ her appearance for ‘more youthful looking skin’. The advert, thereby, uses the celebrity's visible management of ageing and how well they use the technologies that will allow youth to be extended through the face. As Lazar (Reference Lazar2006) shows in her study of adverts addressed to young modern women in Singapore, for instance, such adverts suggest that women become empowered through their use of cosmetics. L'Oréal uses this discourse of empowerment to ask older consumers to redefine the meaning of age and its limitations by defying one's own signs of ageing, as part of ageing well or successfully resisting ageing (see e.g. Wada et al., Reference Wada, Clarke and Rozanova2015). Thus, the advert asks older consumers to identify with the celebrity and not only become complicit with the advert's empowering message that women in their fifties and older can be attractive and visible, but also reinforces the idea – one that the celebrity seems to embrace and endorse – that beauty is endless work and a constant battle. However, this message seems to be contradictory as ageing women are asked to appear younger than they are to remain active and visible. Consequently, the text implies that for older women to be accepted in society as ageing gracefully or being ‘successful agers’, they should be both ‘beautiful’ and have ‘youthful looking’ skin.

The image of the celebrity in Figure 1 appears to be naturalistic; the face of the celebrity shows fine lines and wrinkles, which suggests that it has been left in its natural state. The softened pinkness of Mirren's cheeks and lips, with their natural contour lines revealed, further connote the visual impression of naturalness and lack of beautification. Such points signify that the image of the celebrity is a truthful reflection of reality. The advert thus represents the anti-ageing products’ promise to correct or reverse visible signs of ageing. As the text assures, ‘L'Oréal Paris laboratories have formulated Age Perfect to help rejuvenate skin so that you can age gracefully’. Despite the many features which give the image a realistic, natural effect, the low modality of the image also makes it appear idealised. The image in the advert (Figure 1) appears in an abstract, empty setting. The celebrity is shot against a nearly white background. The setting has been reduced to a white space, which means that it has been ‘decontextualised’ (Ledin and Machin, Reference Ledin and Machin2018). The absence of setting in the image lowers the modality and moves the image away from a naturalistic representation to a more idealised, abstract representation (Kress and van Leeuwen, Reference Kress and van Leeuwen2006). As there is no concrete indicator as to where the celebrity is, the image can be more easily inserted into a variety of contexts, thus allowing it to acquire a conceptual feeling (Machin and Mayr, Reference Machin and Mayr2012). In the advert (Figure 1), both the celebrity and the anti-ageing product play a greater symbolic role (Ledin and Machin, Reference Ledin and Machin2018). The low articulation of the background's detail, as well as it being slightly out of focus, draws the attention of viewers directly towards the celebrity. This forced gaze is also generated by the bright, saturated lighting. The presence of bright light gives the effect of optimism, which is transferred to the Age Perfect products themselves. Further, the image of the celebrity is colour co-ordinated with the anti-ageing products; that is, the white colour of the celebrity's clothes and hair immediately link her to the Age Perfect products. The closely co-ordinated colours and the lowered modality in the advert work to reinforce the mood of the fantasy setting, well-removed from reality (see e.g. Machin and Thornborrow, Reference Machin and Thornborrow2006). The bright white lights and key lightening bathe the celebrity in an imaginary halo that makes her out as a momentarily spiritual being (Redmond, Reference Redmond and Bernardi2007), whom consumers should look up to, worship, which is further reinforced by her direct gaze.

The eyes of the celebrity appear to be almost level with those of the viewer. The effect of Mirren's direct gaze out of the page and on to the reader generates an immediate connection between viewer and viewed, an effect Kress and van Leeuwen (Reference Kress and van Leeuwen2006: 118) describe as generating a ‘demand’ image, that is, one in which a response is elicited or demanded from the reader. The warmth and directness of her gaze assumes a relationship with the reader based on intimacy and honesty, characteristics often regarded as central to female friendships (see e.g. Tannen, Reference Tannen2007). The celebrity's gaze invites the reader to desire her appearance, thereby positioning the viewer closer to her. The assumption of a personal relationship with the viewer is further reinforced by individualisation. The image of the celebrity in Figure 1 is shown as an individual and is one way to show that the agent in this situation acts alone. This has the effect of drawing the reader closer to Mirren and aligning the reader with her thoughts (Ledin and Machin, Reference Ledin and Machin2018). This image of a celebrity with no collective and no society, is a representational strategy that fits with the ideology of individualism that lies at the root of both Western consumerism (Machin and van Leeuwen, Reference Machin and Van Leeuwen2007) and neo-liberal ideas about successful ageing. This places responsibility on the individuals to be in complete control of their own lives and ageing process premised upon their consumption of cosmetic products.

As Machin states:

In the context of this study, placing the face of the celebrity in the ideal composition implicitly aligns her with the ideal of female beauty, even though Mirren does not represent the typical image of models used in advertising. In this way, L'Oréal seeks to normalise the construction of ageing symbolised by the celebrity so that the image is received as one of ideal beauty – appearing youthful, slim, able bodied, White and middle class (LaWare and Moutsatsos, Reference LaWare and Moutsatsos2013).

While selling the anti-ageing product as a solution to a problem, the advert also suggests a second solution: ageing is a problem that can be ‘cured’ through lifelong investments in the body project (Shilling, Reference Shilling1993). These adverts in a sense pathologise ageing. As Ringrow (Reference Ringrow2016) states, the problem is defined within the current social context whereby youth continues to be privileged in many respects, while visible signs of ageing are considered undesirable and unattractive. The common assumption endorsed in such adverts is that women should be proactive in finding solutions for the physical effects of their ageing faces – solutions that would enable them to preserve the appearance of youthfulness (see e.g. Coupland, Reference Coupland, Coupland and Gwyn2003, Reference Coupland2007). In such a context, women's bodies are treated as lifelong projects that need to be worked on constantly (see e.g. Lafrance, Reference Lafrance2018). This self-improvement often involves an attempt to disguise visual signs of ageing, which are constructed through negatively evaluative words. The text in the advert persuades consumers of two important things: (a) it is undesirable to appear to be ageing; and (b) older women must assume the responsibility of their wellbeing, tied to a youthful ideal of beauty, disguising their apparent ageing in order to achieve the ideal ‘perfect’ face. In the case of the latter, women can achieve a face in which they can find confidence. The relationship between purchasing Age Perfect products and attaining a ‘desirable’ ageing appearance is a construction that fits well within the neo-liberal context of successful ageing. For women, this means that the onus is on them to ensure their ageing bodies do not belie their age, which necessitates taking action to maintain the appearance of youth (LaWare and Moutsatsos, Reference LaWare and Moutsatsos2013). Consequently, L'Oréal assumes that older women who do not purchase and consume Age Perfect products – an action which is presented in these adverts as part of a lifestyle choice – cannot be truly ageing as ‘perfectly’ or successfully as the celebrity endorser in the advert, who herself embodies ‘ageing well’.

Discourses of sexual agency

One of the most significant shifts in advertising in the last couple of years is the emphasis on women's sexual agency (Gill, Reference Gill2003). Women are no longer represented as passive objects of the male gaze. Instead, they are now often represented as active, independent and sexually powerful (Gill, Reference Gill2008). For older women, such changes are located within broader cultural shifts where remaining physically attractive and sexually active have become primary components of achieving successful ageing (see e.g. Wada et al., Reference Wada, Clarke and Rozanova2015). The L'Oréal adverts analysed here do not just work to empower older women to remain physically attractive and age successfully; they are also suggestive of sexual agency. The following section examines the visual and textual construction of female agency found in Figure 2.

The L'Oréal advert represents older women as active, sexual subjects who choose to present themselves in an objectified manner because it suits their ‘liberation’ (Gill, Reference Gill2008) from old age, valorising the ultimately impossible goal of growing older without ageing. In the advert (Figure 2), the celebrity's smiling/teasing face, slightly parted lips, tousled hair and her unbuttoned loose shirt, revealing a bare neck and chest, draw on traditional notions of female sexuality and male desire. This is framed through a discourse of playfulness, freedom and, most importantly, choice typically found in younger women's magazines (see e.g. Machin and Thornborrow, Reference Machin and Thornborrow2006). Older women are represented as not seeking the approval of others (often and traditionally men), but as ‘perfecting’ themselves and in so doing potentially catching others’ attention (Gill, Reference Gill2008). Although much of this is never explicitly mentioned in the text, it is signalled in the image through the actions of the celebrity and how she engages with the viewer.

The image and pose of the celebrity are crucial for the look for approval. In Figure 2, the celebrity looks out of the frame and at the viewer. This modality of the gaze helps realise the traditional discourses about women, showing them as seductive or socially intimate. Through direct gaze, viewers are invited to take the place of the celebrity, visualising a reality in which they own the advertised anti-ageing product and the lifestyle it represents. In this context, direct gaze is also framed as a sexual proposition. As Reichert (Reference Reichert, Reichert and Lambiase2003: 18) explains, ‘models behave sexually in ads by making eye contact with viewer’. Through her discussion of the absent or invisible man, Williamson (Reference Williamson1978: 80) argues that the absence of a viewer in adverts is usually connected to sex. In the image (Figure 2), the celebrity is looking at a potential sexual partner. Her tilted head and fingers that gently rest on her neck and her provocatively unbuttoned shirt suggest that the invisible viewer is male. This reads as part of the fun, power and independence of women (see e.g. Machin and Thornborrow, Reference Machin and Thornborrow2006).

These discourses of sexuality are also realised textually in the advert, transcribed in Example 2.

The use of ellipses in the text in Example 2 – ‘tone, tighten…unbutton’ and ‘reveal a little more…’ (lines 1 and 2) – is suggestive of sexual acts (Williams, Reference Williams2006). The ellipses suggest that some word(s) in the text have been left out for the readers to fill in. In this case, they note the elision of the ‘unspeakable’ sexuality and avoid showing older women in any explicit romantic or sexual way (see e.g. Williams et al., Reference Williams, Ylänne and Wadleigh2007). Although the reader cannot tell what has transpired in each ellipsis, the missing words are often implied by the context. In this advert, these ellipses are suggestive of the idea that, traditionally, because of the sexual taboos surrounding older people's sexuality, older women have had to keep their sexual desires hidden or invisible. Moreover, the metaphor ‘keep under wraps’ suggests that something is concealed or kept secret. Although it is unclear as to what exactly is concealed or kept secret, the rhetoric implicitly suggests that older women's sexuality was traditionally viewed with distaste and they were seen as asexual individuals who have finished with romance and sex (Williams et al., Reference Williams, Ylänne and Wadleigh2007). However, the verb ‘reveal’ (line 2) and its implications of something that has been made known, that is exposed, suggests – though it is not explicitly mentioned in the text – that older women's sexuality is no longer invisible. Such adverts challenge the taboo that elderly sexuality is ‘unwatchable’ (Woodward, Reference Woodward1991) and is here portrayed as sweet, playful and harmless. In this manner, L'Oréal appeals to middle-aged consumers who do not want to feel that their impending old age will bring a decline in attractiveness and sexuality (Williams et al., Reference Williams, Ylänne and Wadleigh2007). As Richards et al. (2012: 77) argue, this construction of the ‘sexy oldie’ versus ‘asexual old age’ is used by advertisers to depict older models who are ageing successfully or who are successfully resisting ageing.

Thus, the advert empowers older women to take charge of their sexuality, which it achieves subtly through the use of the verb ‘unbutton’. The word ‘unbutton’ implies that someone is relaxed and is less inhibited. In the context of this advert, it can be used to indicate older women's independence, freedom and autonomy. The message is that these aspects of life can be achieved through the purchase of anti-ageing products. Therefore, the advert suggests that L'Oréal anti-ageing products empower older women with choices that allow them to express freely their sexuality more openly in public spaces – they are finally ‘free’ to explore more satisfying sexual relationships. Moreover, the use of French words in the advert is used to carry erotic connotations (see e.g. Piller, Reference Piller2001). Although not explicitly mentioned in the advert, the words ‘au revoir’ as opposed to the translated English version ‘goodbye’ is associated with pervasive eroticism, given that French is made out to be the language of ‘fun’ and is equated with heterosexual eroticism (Piller, Reference Piller2001). The ‘fun fearless female’ typically used to describe younger women (Machin and Thornborrow, Reference Machin and Thornborrow2006) now characterises this new, more sexually assertive construction of older women. Being fun and fearless is a way in which ageing women can achieve or maintain independence and power. Yet, although the representation of the active sexuality of older women is visible, women nevertheless remain partially covered by clothes. Therefore, the suggestion remains that older women and older people's sexuality in general is still distasteful (Walz, Reference Walz2002). Seemingly, older women must disguise the signs of ageing, without appearing too young. At the same time, they must maintain an appropriately young-looking appearance and remain physically attractive without appearing overtly sexualised.

In the advert, the sexuality of older women is communicated in terms of their practice of self-determination and agency. First, older women's agency is confined to the aestheticisation of their appearance of ageing. Older women are expected to exercise control over their ageing bodies by correcting visible signs of ageing. Second, older women's agency is directly tied to consumerism. Older women's confidence and ability to act are grounded in their consumption of the advertised anti-ageing products. Lexically, the advert functions as the means by which something can be achieved, e.g. ‘our new silky smooth rehydrating lotion with spf15 helps restore and protect even the most delicate areas of the skin’ (Example 2, lines 3, 4 and 5) ). Third, agency is represented as transformative. The verb ‘help’ in Example 2 (line 4) denotes constructive, transformative action. Through the use of ‘synthetic personalization’ (Fairclough, Reference Fairclough1989: 62) achieved by the word ‘your’ (Example 2, line 3), older women are told that they possess the power to transform their looks and create new possibilities for ageing. This idealised notion of remaining sexually active and physically attractive alongside the discourse of ageing leads to a reconstruction of sexuality in later life. This new representation of sexuality represents freedom from the stereotype of asexuality, and opportunity. It also represents freedom to seek out new types of intimate relationships. However, these freedoms are not unbounded; there are restrictions. Those restrictions are in the form of being forced to conform, via a lifelong dedication to working on the body, to a narrow standard of beauty that demands such features as, for example, toned, tightened skin. Even though a more positive image of older women's sexuality is welcome in society, women's agency is still generally reduced to how a woman looks rather than how she acts (Machin and Mayr, Reference Machin and Mayr2012). In other words, women are still viewed through the male gaze.