Revlon apparently has seen the error of its ways, and is retrenching. According to Ellen Byron at the Wall Street Journal,
Starting this week, TV ads starring longtime spokeswoman Halle Berry will introduce a line of Revlon makeup infused with minerals. Print ads launched in magazines last month featured Jessica Alba touting new Revlon foundation in a bottle that lets consumers’ customize their shade, and this month she is featured in lipstick ads.
The blitz marks the first major initiatives since the company’s Vital Radiance cosmetics line aimed at older women flopped 18 months ago, leading to the ouster of its chief executive, more than $70 million in losses, the dismissal of about 10% of its U.S. work force and a new strategy for Revlon.
It made me wonder if L’Oreal has got any game with its ads featuring Diane Keaton and her delicate but aging locks?
The Vital Radiance line failed largely because of marketing missteps. For example, it didn’t incorporate the well-known Revlon brand name, hired unrecognizable models as spokeswomen and cost more than consumers cared to spend. By contrast, the antiaging makeup lines by Procter & Gamble’s Cover Girl and L’Oréal’s namesake brand respectively feature celebrity spokeswomen Christie Brinkley and Diane Keaton.
Well, fine, but Revlon’s abandoning of the entire makeup line in favor of something with a more youthful appeal makes me wonder: Are women of a certain age not buying cosmetics? Or are they not buying cosmetics aimed at THEM? If I were a forty-something (and I am not) and had to choose between Ms. Berry and Ms. Keaton, well, I suppose there wouldn’t be a choice.
But what about us fifty-somethings? The ousted Revlon ads apparently featured attractive but genuinely older women, and they flopped. Are we kidding ourselves? Are we not interested in buying things touted by models who — GOOD GRACIOUS! — are as old as we are? I know the women I see at Chico’s generally are NOT the same age or size as the youngish models featured in their ads and catalogs, but they do aim their clothing at women of a certain age. Is this denial on our part?
Will we EVER get a chance to feel comfortable in the skin we’re in? If we don’t, I’m afraid it will be our fault.