Rosalind Wiseman is an internationally recognized author and educator on children, teens, parenting, education and social justice. Her work aims to help parents, educators and young people successfully navigate the social challenges of young adulthood.
Rosalind Wiseman
creating cultures of dignity
Does Ellen’s Cosmetic Comedy Send the Wrong Message?
Media literacy is on the rise in the halls of the high school where I teach. Students often tell me that they “can’t watch television anymore” because they are analyzing the media and cannot “just enjoy” the show, video, or music. Having just come off three days of analyzing music videos, it was not surprising when the students burst into my classroom and asked if I had seen the new Ellen Degeneres commercial for Cover Girl. In fact I had not, so we gathered around a computer to watch her ad for the Simply Ageless cosmetic line.
The commercial is captures Ellen doing a photo shoot for print ads. As usual, she is having fun and not taking herself too seriously since she is not known for being a model but rather a comedienne. My students, 9 -12 grade girls, are familiar with Ellen DeGeneres. However, they were concerned with her opening line of the commercial: “Inner beauty is important but not nearly as important as outer beauty.”
Our course, Owning Up, has challenged the students to question what they hear and see. As a result of watching the commercial and the structure of the course, the students engaged one another in lively discourse. Some of the students were appalled that Ellen DeGeneres, whom they’d viewed as a great advocate for women, acceptance and tolerance, would even joke about outer beauty being more important than inner beauty. Other students countered by saying they were taking that line out of the context of the entire commercial. They felt it was clear she was having fun and making fun of herself.
The debate about the wording of the ad didn’t stop in our classroom. On YouTube the commercial has received nearly a hundred comments and people can’t seem to agree if the intentions are delivering the desired effect.
treenypop: i agree that she is awesome but still i hope she doesnt believe outer beauty is more important. even if she was told to say it, it isnt true and i really don t think she should be spreading that message
facade444: She is a COMEDIAN. I can’t believe people are taking the “But not as important as outer beauty” so seriously. If you look at the rest of the video she’s goofing around. Comedians joke around, get over yourselves.
thornyyrose: she is doing exactly what the multi million dollar company paid her to do. to say those words an act all silly…the fact the company advertisers came up with them is freaking stupid and appaling. they should not be said. is this what we are trying to teach the girls/women of today? outer beauty is not what makes the person. this commercial is downright wrong and should be taken off the air. there is NO excuse for it.
Gamezero05: It is a JOKE. How do some people think she is being literal when she says outter beauty is more important? Did you guys come into this world with a faulty sarcasm radar? Let me explain the comedic element. She says something that we pretty much ALL agree with: Inner beauty is important. Then, she uses the element of surprise to flip it and say not as important as outer beauty. It catches you off guard, you laugh, she laughs, it’s funny. It’s not meant to be serious. Geez!
As educators and parents this commercial is a great place to begin a dialogue with our students or children about the media and moreover the responsibility of celebrities. I asked my students the following questions as a starting place to begin discussing:
- How does this commercial make you feel? Ask kids to explain their response.
- Do you think Ellen is saying “outer beauty is most important”as a joke or is she serious?
- Does Ellen have an obligation to rise to a higher standard than the rest of us because she is a celebrity?
- What can happen when we take lines or conversations out of context?
Whether or not you or your teens take issue with this commercial is not the main goal. The main point is rather to use this very benign commercial to open up communication about media culture and the role it plays in defining what we should think, act, and look like.
8 Responses to “Does Ellen’s Cosmetic Comedy Send the Wrong Message?”
Leave a Reply
March 17th, 2011 at 7:00 pm
My only comment is, Would she have done the commercial if she was 5′ 2″ and 220lbs with complexion issues that needed medical attention. After all the commentary’s made in the news and magazines promoting internal beauty, I cannot believe that there would be any positive way to look at the message Ellen has given the young women of the world.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:27 am
She may be joking but their are certainthings you shouldnt joke about, and I think outer beauty being more important then inner beauty is definately one of them, especialy opn an advert for makeup. maybe on stage somewhere ok, but not on a medium where young girls are watching.
December 14th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Heyy Mrs. Dalton!!!
First of all, I really like your article, but I think Ellen was just joking, it’s her job. I know that a lot of people don’t find it funny and are offended by it, but I don’t think that she really believes it, she just wants to get a laugh. I think next time Cover Girl should watch what their spokesmodels say, so next time it doesn’t strike up controversy. Gotta go study for midterms!
Love, Natalie
P.S. I’LL MISS YOUR CLASS!!
December 9th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Hey Mrs. Dalton!!
Great blog!!
So I understand the fact that Ellen was trying to make a joke and be silly because she is a comdian, but honestly I don’t think its funny. If a young girl (age about 6-9) saw this commercial what do you think they would think? Us, being a little older and wiser get the fact that she is joking, but its not something to be shown on TV. Most little kids don’t understand sarcasm, especially not in commercials. This advertisement could really impact a girl’s self esteem and I don’t think it’s right to show that on television.
December 8th, 2009 at 3:46 pm
I actually really like this commercial and don’t find it offensive at all. Obviously CG chose an unconventional model like Ellen because she is known for her inner beauty and not her outer beauty, and is able to have a sense of humor about the fact that a cosmetic company wants her in their ad campaign. I think it comes off exactly as it should–that Cover Girl makeup is not just for beauty queens and supermodels, and that even goofy, middle-aged, slightly masculine women like to feel good about the way that they look. I think they make feeling beautiful a much more attainable reality by taking someone like Ellen and making her look fresh and confident. They let her be everything she normally is, which is not ever serious. Can you imagine how AWKWARD this commercial would be if it were a straight faced Ellen saying, “Inner beauty is much more important than outer beauty,” and then vogueing for the camera? There is NOTHING funny about saying the thing that people expect, and getting people to laugh is one of the things that makes us all look most beautiful.
December 7th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
Heyyy Ms. Dalton!!!
I think that nothing like this should be said on TV since obviously, people can take it either way. If even only one person were to take this seriously, it shouldn’t be said at all. Whether it be on just a simple commercial with a funny comedian, or a popular drama series with serious looking celebs, it can always be taken seriously and should just be avoided all together. It seems as though Ellen was doing her job which was to endorse cover girl, and she didn’t really care that she is insulting inner beauty. She seems to be oblivious to the fact that she just went against the saying “inner beauty is all that matters,” and is messing with a lot of girl’s self-confidence.
December 7th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
I don’t know. She seemed very sarcastic when she said it, and there was a lot of funny faces and eye rolling in the commercial. I am not saying I agree that it should have been said on TV, but I do believe it was in humor and not meant to be taken seriously, and that she was being sarcastic/funny
December 5th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
I definently think she was serious when saying this on a national commercial. I do not necessarily believe that she believes this herself but I do think she meant for people to interpret it in that way. I do not think that it is a very wise choice of words for CoverGirl’s advertisement and I do think that girls will interpret it as she says it because that’s how I interpreted it when I first saw it as a teenage girl. She may appear to be joking but this isn’t something I think we should be joking about.