Sephora Black Beauty Is Beauty CSP

 Wider reading on Sephora Black Beauty Is Beauty

Read these articles on the Sephora campaign: 

The Drum: Black Beauty is Beauty by RGA
Glossy: Sephora celebrates Black beauty in new digital and TV campaign

Refinery29: Sephora’s ‘Black Beauty Is Beauty’ Short Film Celebrates Black Innovation

Complete the following questions/tasks:

1) What was Sephora trying to achieve with the campaign?

Sephora wanted to  celebrating the countless Black traditions and inventions that have propagated the beauty trends we all know and love, this includes the trends, products and tools in the mainstream beauty sphere and their inherent connection to Black beauty culture. The campaign traces the history of your favourite beauty trends to their Black roots. 

2) What scenes from the advert are highlighted as particularly significant in the articles?

The scenes from the advert that are significant is when the camera pans over Black women waiting under dryers as the narrator poses the question, “What is beauty without Black beauty?” Repeatedly, Black people create trends and receive no acknowledgment while white industries co-opt and monetise Black genius. There is a shot of a white person applying a cut crease, then cuts to a trio of drag queens beating their face, then to vogueing at a drag ball. The message is clear: these trends are Black and queer. 

3) As well as YouTube, what TV channels and networks did the advert appear on?

The campaign was across TV networks and digital channels like BET, OWN Hulu, HBO Max and YouTube; branded content and podcast advertising through Vox and New York Magazine’s The Cut; and digital ads across social media networks. 

4) Why does the Refinery29 article suggest the advert 'doesn't feel performative'? 

It suggests how no one feels left out. The film has more inclusion in its under-a-minute runtime than two hour features have in their whole film. Rather than dipping a toe in “diversity,” Bradley and Sephora fully submerged us and created a beautiful film that sees us. And we didn’t even have to wait until Black History Month to be acknowledged. 

5) What is the 15 per cent pledge and why is it significant?

Sephora pledges on June 10, 2020 that at least 15% of their shelves for Black-owned brands.

Advertising agency feature

The Black Beauty Is Beauty advertising spot was created by global creative agency R/GA. Look at their website feature on the project and answer the following questions:

1) Why did Sephora approach R/GA to develop the advert?

Sephora were ready to do something about racial equity in the beauty industry. The company R/Ga had signed a pledge where 15% of shelf space is dedicated to Black-owned brands.

2) What was the truth that R/GA helped Sephora to share?

They helped share the truth of many of the beauty trends, ingredients, tools, and language we all enjoy, giving black beauty its credit.

3) How did the advert 'rewrite the narrative'?

It spelled out the influence of Black beauty culture on mainstream beauty where it credited Black beauty for the cut crease, the hairbrush, and many more beauty staples we all enjoy. 

Sephora website: Black Beauty Is Beauty

Visit the Sephora website page on Black Beauty Is Beauty. Answer the following questions:

1) How does Sephora introduce the campaign?

They start by listing who they are: ' we believe in championing all beauty, living with courage, and standing fearlessly together to celebrate our differences' and then proceeding to state how mainstream beauty is all black culture.

2) What statistics are highlighted on the website? 

The statistics are:

-3% of brands at major beauty retailers are Black owned

-1% of ventured capital funding goes to black owned businesses

-78% of shoppers across retail industry don't see enough brand owned by or made for people of colour

-2 in 5 shoppers across the retail industry have personally experienced unfair treatment on the bases of their race or skin colour

3) What do we learn about Garrett Bradley - the director of the advert? 

We learn she is an American artist and filmmaker whose work focuses on themes including race, class, and the history of film in the US. She was the first Black woman to win best director of a documentary at Sundance for her film Time.

Media language: textual analysis

Watch the advert again and answer the following questions that focus on technical and verbal codes. Use your notes from the lesson to help you here.  

1) How does the advert use camerawork to communicate key messages about the brand?

There was a lot of camera moments where it was either a track, pan or even a zoom in order create meaning of Sephora moving with the times. There was a lot of close ups present as it is a classical convention of beauty advertising in order to see the face and product. Wide shots were also used to show both setting and lighting of recognisable paces to create warmth and love for the audience. 

2) How is mise-en-scene used to create meanings about black beauty and culture?

Mise-en-scene  is seen through the props placed throughout the campaign showing classical conventions of beauty advertising such as hairbrushes, products, etc. We could also see the voice over matching the pictures shown to express a sort of narrative and story evolving or even being revealed to the audience how main stream beauty is all black culture. Make-up is another convention as everyone shown is heavily made up in their own way to reflect Sephora as a whole and what they sell.

3) How is editing used to create juxtapositions and meanings in the advert?

The campaign uses a lot of editing such as a split screen or animate diagrams to show a constant movement of camerawork and editing, perhaps to reflect the attention span of the TikTok generation. Its moving with society and what is watched now days making it fast and quick when relying their message to the audience they desire. There is also grids of close-ups. to empathise the diversity at the heart of the advertisement to overall illustrate how this is not only just about black beauty but about other forgotten cultures.

4) How are verbal codes used to create meanings in the advert - the voiceover and text on screen? 

The verbal codes, the voiceovers that narrate the images that come on screen to not lose track of the audience in order to show them clearly the messages they are trying to reflect. This line up is to avoid confusion or miscommunication that might make their former scandal worse. The vivid and bold text on screen can empathise who they are and what they aim to achieve with the campaign to show their change and the movement they wish to promote.

5) What is the overall message of the advert? 

The overall message is how the mainstream beauty and popular trends that are followed across the world all stem from black beauty culture. Sephora wants to relay this message and claim back what originally belonged and celebrate black beauty.

Media factsheet

Finally, go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #259: Sephora Online Advert - Black Beauty Is Beauty. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets. If you need to access this from home you can find our factsheet archive here (you'll need to use your Greenford login).

1) Look at the exam hint on the first page. How does Sephora as a brand and the CSP specifically reflect contemporary social and cultural contexts? 

2) Media theory: how are Butler, Gauntlett, bell hooks and Gilroy applied to the CSP?

Judith Butlers gender fluidity is applied where drag queens, who are anatomically male, perform traditionally female rituals by applying make-up. David Gauntletts identity is seen when the audience are provided with an array of options for how people of colour

could present their identity. Bell Hooks intersectionality is applied where people are no longer marginalised; instead, “black beauty” is celebrated and recognized for its impact on the industry.

3) What aspects of media language are highlighted on page 3 of the factsheet? 

Pans, medium close-up shots, split screen, mirror shots, binary opposition, voice-over, warm light, transitions, stereotypes.

4) How does the factsheet summarise the advert on the final page?

It summarises the advert into its key message of: “Join Sephora in supporting and celebrating Black beauty" to covey ideas of how Sephora is a brand leading the campaign for equality this may be to effort to address past racial controversies.

5) What are the four ideologies in advertising highlighted in task 8 on the final page of the factsheet? In your opinion, do you feel the Sephora CSP advert challenges or reinforces each of these?  

The four ideologies are: Consumerism, identity, capitalism and gender fluidity. In my opinion, I believe that the Sephora adverts attempt to reinforce these is seen throughout their campaign as they are trying to express freedom of identity to their audience to increase their image as inclusive. However, I believe that that they are trying to get rid of and make sure that their past racial scandal and instead of acceptance they want more media image and attraction of customers. They are not to blame for this, as many other big companies and brands do the same where they state how they want to make people feel themselves and free, which they do but they also have ulterior motives to promote their own products.