Beauty and the Brand : Urban Decay advertisements vs. other beauty brands

In Urban Decay's advertisements, they seem to have a pattern running through in which they use either the same model, or models of very similar looks, e.g. pale skin, dark hair and thick eyebrows. The majority of photos used are from the shoulders up and portray simple yet bold make-up to capture the audiences attention. However, there are also some exceptions where blonde models are used and occasionally the make-up can take a more artistic edge to it, such as in the 'Electric palette' campaign where bright colours are randomly slathered over the models faces. This shows that their advertising looks can range from high street that reach out to the masses, to editorial that may target a more specific audience. The campaigns are most often shot in a studio environment or often with a bold patterned background.

(http://fashiontrendseeker.com/page/33/?0=%3FglamLinkTarget%3Bcsc%3Dgcelb -Viewed 5th April 2015)

(http://megasabi.com/explore/?p=34413 -Viewed 5th April 2015)

Brands that are often categorised with Urban Decay, a high end high street brand, are 'Benefit' and 'MAC'. MAC's advertising can also range from high street relatable to very editorial and high end, and often use celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Brooke Shields to name a few, to model for their campaigns and endorse their brand. MAC advertisements are perhaps more fashion forward and editorial than those of Urban Decay. MAC also use a wider range of models than Urban Decay and they too seem to photograph their campaigns in the studio setting.

(http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/mac-cosmetics-targets-vogue’s-affluent-customers-via-ipad-sponsorship -Viewed 5th April 2015)

(http://imgkid.com/mac-makeup-advertisement.shtml -Viewed 5th April 2015)

(http://pixshark.com/mac-cosmetics-ads-2014.htm -Viewed 5th April 2015)

Benefit's style of advertising is very different to both Urban Decay and MAC, as they often use dolls and cartoon like figures, or they have a very retro style in their campaigns with pin up girls, it is sometimes difficult to tell if the models are real or if they are cartoon images or drawings. Urban Decay and MAC are the most editorial of the 3 brands.