Total beauty for women? The truth to Natura

Authors

  • Denise Castilhos de Araujo Universidade Feevale
  • Norberto Kuhn Junior Universidade Feevale

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4013/fem.2012.141.06

Abstract

This article discusses truth and beauty as advertised by the cosmetics company Natura in its campaign “100% truth”. The statements “O beauty! Where is your truth?” (William Shakespeare) and “Beauty is the splendor of truth” (Plato) trigger the process of composition of a product designed by the company targeting non-young women: beauty preserved in the formula of truth developed by Natura. Notions of beauty and truth are used to examine the impact of the role currently played by the media on the process of construction of discourses on truth – which has been called “truth under the statute of the media”. Based on a semiotic analysis, we reflect on the play on meanings presented in the advertising campaign, which triggers feelings of trust, thus making it possible not only to sustain the truth of an advertised product, but also to uphold the truth as a media product.

Key words: beauty, truth, media, advertising.

Author Biographies

Denise Castilhos de Araujo, Universidade Feevale

Doutora em Comunicação Social, pesquisadora e professora da Universidade Feevale/RS.

Norberto Kuhn Junior, Universidade Feevale

Doutor em Comunicação; professor e pesquisador da Universidade Feevale.

Published

2011-10-24