La vie est belle Life is beautiful

Opening scene, an opulent dinner. Formal gowns and tuxedos, surrounding a table of
fine china, glassware and linen table cloth. The commercial then shifts the focus to celebrity
Julia Roberts who has a thoughtful look on her faceThe commercial is promoting La vie est
belle, a parfum sold in department stores.

Rhetoric and Persuasive Techniques

In this clip, the marketers are using both Pathos and Ethos to persuade buyers to purchase
the fragrance. The emotional appeal, or Pathos technique, is shown through the setting of
commercial with beautiful people sitting around a fancy dinner in an opulent room. As the
commercial continues, you see the other rooms in a large mansion where the party is taking
place. This type of party is something people dream of, and the show of wealth helps to set the
scene. The persuasive technique, Ethos, is demonstrated by the choice of having Julia Roberts,
an Oscar winning movie actress, as a spokesperson for the fragrance. She is adorned by a snug
fitting white dress which emphasizes her curves and continues to define what it is to be a
beautiful person.

Overall message

Without using words, the ad displays the propaganda message that beautiful people use
this product, a new scent called LEclat parfum, and so should you. The action, the characters,
and the setting support the theme that you will be happy if you wear this parfum. Or perhaps,
wearing this fragrance will make you beautiful like the people in the clip. The name of the
product is French which means Life is Beautiful. The setting is in a grand mansion with large
chandeliers, and elaborate dcor. As she moves through the rest of the party, you can see
decorative touches of the mansion, such as ornate light fixtures that look like candelabras, the
crystal glasses of the party guests, fancy evening gowns, formal tuxes, and fresh cut flowers.
This is dcor that is not an everyday type of dcor for most Americans. Julia Roberts becomes a
focal point of many scenes in her beautifully sequin adorned gown. The other party goers have a
mixture of both darker and lighter colored evening gowns and black tie tuxes, however, the
lighting is brighter on Julia. The lighting and the color of her gown further emphasizes the
presence of Julia Roberts so that the eyes of the viewer are drawn to her.

The opening scene centers on the lavish table setting and people around the dining table
in the frame. Julia has a thoughtful look on her face. She then smirks as if she has a daring
thought, and walks towards the wall in the room. The camera angle widens as she walks across
the room. The next shot is of her hands preparing to touch the wall. There is a dramatic pause as
she makes contact with the wall. Magically, the wall erupts into a shower of crystal and Julia
walks through the rest of the party goers as the music hits forte, a louder volume. She continues
moving forward and touches a second wall which also erupts into a shower of crystals as she
heads outside. The music has both a slow feel to it with an undertone of sixteenth notes to add
intensity to the scene. During the fall of the second wall, the vocals start, thereby adding another
layer to the music. As Julia walks through the party, heads are turning as if they notice that she
is different in some way. She makes her way to the outdoor balcony which overlooks the city of
Paris. The sky looks to be sunset with the last rays of sunshine shining behind the Eiffel Tower.
She looks over her shoulder with a wide smile as a ray of light pulses in the bottom right corner
of the frame. Then an image of the new fragrance bottle is shown with crystals laying on the set
in the background. A voice over introduces the new parfum scent which is part of the Lavie est
belle, Life is beautiful fragrance line by Lancome Paris.

Production

The setting and the costumes, in this case gowns and tuxes, of the commercial displays
the culture codes of the social upper class. As mentioned previously, the decorative touches of
the mansion with the ornate light fixtures that look like candelabras, the crystal glasses of the
party guests, and fresh cut flowers are symbols of wealth and opulence. The commercial is set to
give the viewer a look into the lives of the beautiful women, like Julia, who buy and wear this
parfum. The action, the characters, and the setting in a French mansion display wealth and
privilege. One belief in our culture is that people who have both wealth and privilege, are happy
because they can buy anything and do anything that makes them happy. Wearing La vie est
belle LEclat will make you happy like Julia as she celebrates her unique nature portrayed by
the commercial.

Distribution

The commercial was on prime time TV as I was watching The Voice. I believe that a
majority of viewers are female ranging from 25-50 years old. Possibly women who are pre-
children or women who are post children who may have more time and energy to concern
themselves with the proper fragrances. So playing the commercial during a show like The
Voice would give Lancome the biggest bang for its buck with a good portion of their target
audience viewing the commercial during the show. These types of commercials, promoting
fragrances will pick up in frequency as the holidays arrive and may possibly be played during
different shows and times to hit the audience of males who are struggling to figure out a gift for a
loved one.

Persuasive techniques

The rhetoric of this piece appeals to the fear of not fitting in. It also stresses the
importance of becoming a member of the beautiful or high society people. These messages fit
in the both the Pathos and Ethos methods of persuasion described in the beginning of this essay.
The cropping of the shots at certain moments emphasize the story of breaking down barriers and
be unique. Julia Roberts sophistication and glamorous appearance in the white evening gown
with flattering makeup and long flowing hair, provide a role model for women who also desire
to be sophisticated and glamorous. Another technique used by the creators was adding music to
help set the tone or mood of the piece with its layered composition. The music crescendos when
the first wall breaks down, voices come in when the second wall collapses. Throughout the
commercial, the music had both a slow movement of notes with an under tone of faster sixteenth
notes adding that sense of intensity. As she continues walking and the music adds more
elements, the viewer is given the impression by Julias facial expression that she feels more and
more confident as she climbs the stairs. The aural techniques of pace/tempo, and volume in the
music builds until the big moment when Julia arrives at the top of the stairs victoriously. This
metaphor of being at the top of your game plays well in to the theme of be unique and live
free. The walls that burst into crystal showers symbolize the breaking down of barriers people
encounter when others try to bring them down for being unique.

Reflection

This activity was very informative to me. I knew of a bit about these techniques but
having to look for them in an example of commercial advertising, was revealing. Being a
musician, I am very aware and sensitive to the mood and elements of music. When paired with
powerful images, music can be very powerful. Depending on the person, one may be more
moved by the images they see or more moved by the sounds they hear. As I kept thinking about
the techniques use to persuade me to potentially buying this product kind of made me mad.
Appealing to my dread of becoming older, not living the beautiful life as the creators defined
it were in a way sneaky which caused me anger. By becoming more aware of the strategies of
persuasion, it opens up your eyes to make more sound decisions about what you buy, what you
eat, what you wear. and how you live.

This newfound knowledge could also help to determine what political candidates truly
have the values you deem important and who is appealing to your fears, who is using the
technique of Logos through associating with other popular politicians, and who is using ad
hominum to attack their opponents as a diversion from the real issues.

In the classroom, these persuasive strategies can be taught to aide students in writing
activities such as persuasive writing activities, and healthy debates about different topics of class
discussions. Perhaps student would become more aware of the opposing sides of people in
history and how certain powerful leaders came to be through the use of their art of persuasion.
Knowing how to decipher the hidden messages in video and print advertising will be an essential
skill for 21st Century Learners as they navigate through the digital age. It teaches them to be
more aware of these techniques so they can make more informed decision in the future.