There is merit in this approach. All the women I know can recite the 'Because you're worth it' L'Oreal end-line. They can even imitate the coquettish headshake that so often accompanies the line in commercial after commercial. It is fame, in a world where fame is hard to come by.
The latest campaign for Age Re-Perfect conforms to the L'Oreal rule. In this instance, movie star Jane Fonda is gracing our screens, purring about how Pro Calcium tones and tightens her fragile skin.
Now, any of us women who are battling the onset of lines will be envious of Ms Fonda. She looks good, damn good. And she's almost 70. But somehow, I find it difficult to believe that this comes courtesy solely of a cream in a pot.
And that is the flaw in the L'Oreal approach. There is no irony, no humour and no twinkle in the eye. There is no sense of Fonda as anything other than the paid-for mouthpiece of the corporation. It is all played very straight. At best this comes across as kitsch. At worst it comes across as patronising and dated.
You can't help but feel that advertising such as this may be approaching its sell-by date. L'Oreal doesn't seem to believe that women are intelligent beings. When I am at home watching television, it makes me want to shout at the screen and wave my GCSE certificates around, as if to prove that I do have a brain.
At least in this instance L'Oreal has refrained from the normal product sequence in the middle of the ad, with molecules and statistics zooming about.
Maybe L'Oreal does think I have a brain after all. Or maybe it just thinks the 'seniors' at which this commercial is aimed won't be able to cope with the science bit.
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