Alec McDonald - Trading Faces

Ever hear the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”? Well, this common expression didn’t gain its popularity for no reason. People often make a judgment within the first few seconds just based off of looks. Before getting to know a person, one will make a judgment on whether they want to associate with them or not. An example of this could be an employer interviewing a hopefully soon-to-be teacher who has visible tattoos. The interviewers first thoughts may be generalizations like “he does drugs” or “he is unreliable and a bad influence”. Well, this may not be the case. The applicant is probably just as qualified as any other. These judgments can keep people from achieving their goals just because one is making accusations based upon looks. There can be many other cases, similar and not, where decisions are merely based off of looks. With this being said, looks can be deceiving because something can appear one way and actually be completely opposite.

            Face it, without even realizing it, you have probably made a decision about something or someone before getting the chance to understand it. This act of quick conclusion can be brought out in Dove’s add advocating how one should not make judgments based on what they see. The video shows a billboard with a beautiful young lady who supposedly uses skin products to help her achieve her looks. When in reality, her looks were brought to her from a wide variety of make-ups and computer animation. Contrary to most beauty ads, this campaign is justifying how one should pay no attention to the tabloids and billboards with models on them because these women are not actually real. Their looks have been altered in an attempt to make people buy the same beauty products they use because buyers believe the products will produce the same outcome or effect.

            This advertisement contains a very strong message that should not be ignored. What people see may not actually be what is true. It is a perfect example of how looks can be deceiving. Magazines and television have been portraying “perfect” girls for years with the intent to belittle others that do not have the same look. This pressure from the beauty industry can cause the public to respond in ways they normally would not. Women may go out and purchase loads of make-up and clothing or they could spend hundreds of dollars on dieting supplies just so they can fulfill the look the billboards believes is correct. The video really portrays the deception tactics used in society today.