Do you really love your make up?

Many make up brands are tested on animals before being marketed to consumers. This ad is highlighting to make up users that animals are harmed to make their products and calls to an end to animal testing. It shows a model wearing make up with blood coming down from her eyes. This has a double representation; one is that she is crying tears when realising the harm that comes towards animals. The other meaning is that the blood is representing one of the ingredients that goes into her eye products due to the harm on animals while testing.

In addition there is a sad faced puppy in the background displayed in dull black and white colours compared to the bright colours of the rest of the ad. It is showing the harsh reality behind the scenes of the glamour. The combination of the rhetorical question “Do you really love your make up?”,  and the puppy suffering behind the scenes evokes a feeling of guilt within those who love and use make up which is tested on animals.

Zillman (1972) demonstrated the effectiveness of rhetoric elicitation by using a mock court trial. Undergraduates were presented with persuasive positive information about the criminal who was up for trial.  The conclusion of the message was presented as either a statement or a rhetorical question. The impact of the persuasive message was measured by how long the participant thought the criminal should be locked up for when the persuasive message was trying to highlight the good points of the criminal. The more effective the persuasive message would mean that the subjects would choose to have the criminal locked up for a shorter time. Those who were in the condition with the rhetorical question gave shorter prison sentences.

Zillmann, D. (1972). Rhetorical elicitation of agreement in persuasion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 21(2), 159.