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Aliyyah Abdur-Rauf
Professor Hankerson
Eng 1020
2/16/12
Subliminal Manipulation
We cannot run away from it. It bombards us every day. We live in a country where
it is encouraged. Advertisements can be manipulative, subliminal, and highly effective all
the same time. An advertisement can have several hidden forces behind it in order to
increase its effectiveness such as appeals to false authority, sentimental appeals, pathos,
and many more. Many advertisements seek to persuade customers by using the False
Authority method. A commercial advertising Rihanna’s woman’s fragrance Reb’l Fleur (or
Rebel Flower) is the perfect example of False Authority. This commercial also displays
many other subliminal messages as a technique used to lure in a certain crowd or give off a
specific message about the product. Almost all the techniques described by Lindstrom in
his article "How Subliminal Advertising Works" are used in this advertisement (Lindstrom,
2011). This commercial tells an intriguing story of duel personality's among woman and
contains color play, false authority techniques, audio manipulation, and manipulating
visual components, and we haven’t even began to explore the physical appearance of the
perfume bottle itself
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False authority “…to draw on the authority of widely respected people… (Lunsford,
Ruszkiewicz, Walters & et al, 2011) or one person. Rihanna uses her self-image and
reputation as a rebel or “good girl gone bad” to create a meaning behind a scent. In the
beginning of the commercial she reveals the sexually innocent aspects of her personality;
the romantic, beautifully bright and unpollinated aspect of a flower in other words her
“good” side. Rihanna uses bright colors such as pinks and whites in this section of the
advertisement she also uses a slow and graceful melody all to insure the suggestion of
romantic and playfully beautiful innocent’s. The place she is although not said seems to be a
romantic place but also a place where one could get caught, lost, or mislead.
And then…there was a transition. As Rihanna leaves the flower she reaches out to a
man and the scenery changes. As she runs through a sort of garden maze surrounded by
pollen she encounters a mirror which reflects her in a dark black dress and had slightly
darker scenery; she is manipulating visual components to imply change in her personality
and behavior. The tempo of the music also changes into a heart racing beat that allures
watchers and causes one to feel indulged and involved. Rihanna then reveals a much more
sensual and sexual aspect of her personality where she is wearing all black and appears to
enjoy the male company following her through this maze. According to color psychology
the black colors in the advertisement are to implement power and submission to men
(Johnson, 2007). This piece of the commercial clearly plays on an individual’s sexual
desires and the idea that people yearn to be rebellious.
This fragrance commercial uses a persuasion technique that appeals to a most
commanding emotion; desire. It is a clear example of pathos. The objective of fragrance
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commercials is to try and develop an emotion of desire towards a specific fragrance that
suits your personality or a personality that you desire to have. Although most of this
advertisement is totally irrelevant to perfume it intertwines this inner rebel with the
fragrance by showing the resemblance of the structure of the bottle to fishnet stockings
and the connection between this specific perfume and a “naughty” behavior. While the
shape and structure of the perfume bottle is appearing to imitate the effect and look of
fishnet pantyhose you notice a black net sort of tattoo crawling down Rihanna’s leg as two
pair of male hands cover her eyes and when she is released the tattoo goes away and she
begins to return to her brighter ways. This commercial implies that this is
the behavior people are allowed to have while wearing this perfume or perhaps those who
have these behavioral tendencies should buy this perfume. The targeted audience seems to
be rebellious teenagers rather than young adults because young adults don’t really appear
as infatuated by the idea of right and wrong as teenagers are. This advertisement had
potential to affect the way teens see life and reality
A person is not allowed to change your morals just because they wear a certain
fragrance; nevertheless I am sure teens who wear this fragrance will appear to gain a
certain confidence by it and become more open to things that otherwise they probably
would not. By creating this perfume Rihanna doesn’t only make new costumers but she
also reinforces herself with her old ones. Those who are already fans of Rihanna will buy
this fragrance and feel closer to her, as if they are being more like her by wearing Reb’l
Fleur and begin to further mock her ways. This ad would only be ineffective when it comes
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to those who do not find the idea of being "bad" or rebellious attractive otherwise I find
this to be a pretty effective advertisement.
Rihanna is showing in her advertisement that wearing this perfume allows one to
become sexually open and rebellious in some ways while remaining bright and flower like
in others. This entire commercial attempts to describe a certain behavioral pattern or
thought process that a scent can provide you. What makes this commercial effective are the
different methods of persuasion and emotional appeals used to invite in young minds.
Rihanna not only uses herself, but also manipulates sound and visuals, to create a
subliminal and emotional message that persuades individuals (particularly teenagers) into
buying her product. This method is not only used but Rihanna but many others in the
advertising business and it is best that people are aware of these methods and view them
critically in order to be fully aware of what they are exposed to.
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Citations
“Rihanna Reb’l Fleur” commercial. Youtube. Febuary 10 2011
Lunsford, A. A., Ruszkiewicz, J. J., Walters, K., & et al, (2011). Everything's an argument with
readings. (5th ed.). Boston: Bedford/st Martins.
Johnson, D. (2007, December 11). Infoplease. Retrieved from
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1.html
Lindstrom, M. (2011, 10 31). Parade.com. Retrieved from
http://www.parade.com/news/2009/01/how-subliminal-advertising-works.html
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