Mariah Carey "M"

In the Mariah Carey ad she is trying to promote her new scent “M”. As soon as the commercial comes on you first hear Mariah Carey singing. Then the actual product is shown. Mariah Carey is promoting her own scent, which gives the product more credibility because Mariah Carey is an icon to most. Mariah is very sensual in the commercial as if to show women that they can be as glamorous as she is if they buy the product. The ironic thing about the commercial is that it shows Mariah more than the actual perfume, “M”. I am not sure if maybe the writers did that on purpose to get people’s attention by using Mariah sexuality to sell the product. At the end of the commercial you get a better look at the “M” perfume bottle. It has a butterfly which is a big symbol for Mariah Carey. The fact that this is at the end is very smart because even if someone came in at the end of the commercial they would know who the scent “M” belongs to because of the butterfly.

The authors of the commercial are probably Mariah Carey and someone else who helped her come up with the structure. Mariah Carey being one of the authors is probably why the commercial focuses a lot on her instead of the actual perfume. Then perfume is not shown very often, when it is Mariah is putting it on herself which puts the focus back on her. This is odd to me because even if the commercial wasn’t showing her most of the time the focus would still be on her because it is her own scent. I think the writers linked the two together because they assumed people would buy “M” because it is connected with Mariah Carey. This is a very clever tactic because it will get them better results on actually selling the product. Also the authors bring in sex appeal which is a big attention grabber. The fact that Mariah is applying the perfume on herself grabs you because of the exotic way that she does it. Men look because she is beautiful. Women look because they want to be like her. They get in their mind that “M” equals beautiful and what represents a woman.

The tactics that the commercial uses to get people to buy the product can actually put a couple constraints on who buys the product. The commercial is probably for everyone who watches it. This is where the constraints could come in because some people could interpret the commercial different. Some women could find it offensive that Mariah uses her body to sell a product. They could find it demeaning, and because the commercial is focused on Mariah they would not even take the time to pay attention to what Mariah is trying to promote men. This could also limit children who watch it because parents may not want their children to watch something like that. If this happens then there would be no common ground and that audience would no longer be available.

The audience is so broad that I doubt this would happen. Mariah being the icon that she is would attract a lot of fans that would probably overlook anything they did not like in the commercial. People aspiring to be singers would love the commercial because Mariah is such a great singer, which she also promotes in the commercial. Men who love a confident woman would also be a fan because Mariah exudes confidence in the whole commercial. The confidence I think gives the commercial more appeal because Mariah as well as the authors are showing that they are confident in their product.

I identify with this commercial because I love “M”. I also identify with the commercial because I love Mariah Carey, especially her voice. I am a big fan of her music and I would probably just about buy anything that she is selling. The commercial layout is very clever in using Mariah to sell “M”. They make it sexy but classy, and still make sure you know what they are trying to get you to buy. I identify with that because I have a strong appreciation for people that utilize everything they have to make results happen. I also identify with the “M” commercial because I am very confident in myself, and I love that fact that the whole commercial reads “confidence”. Most people would probably identify the “M” commercial with me because of the fact that Mariah Carey sings in it, and most people that know me know that I love her. Music is a big part in my life and seeing a musical icon always makes me excited to see what they are selling. I chose this commercial because it is one of the few commercials that jump out at me from beginning to end. It fascinates me that the commercial begins with Mariah’s singing voice and ends with Mariah’s butterfly symbol. In using that tactic the writers and Mariah persuade me to want to buy their product because I feel like they are trying to get me to buy the whole commercial. Mariah being in the commercial is the icing on the cake because she is putting herself out there to get me to buy her product. I think that takes a lot of courage, which I can definitely appreciate.