If someone believes ads like these, they will believe anything. BTW, I use Cetaphil.

Ben Goldacre has a great chapter on this kind of sciencey-sounding woo in his book "Bad Science", which has just been released in the USA. A good read, anyway. You can read the "cosmetics" category in his blog here.

It's worth noting that the women advertising these products all seem to be in their late teens to early 30s.....an age range that, typically, doesn't have excessive skin problems to begin with (adult acne exists, of course, and some people may wrinkle earlier than others, but generally, it's a time when the majority of women have minimal skin problems as determined by these commercials). Most people have acne in the preteen through mid-teen years, and very few 30 year old women have significant wrinkles. However, Vanessa Hudgens is hawking acne and cleansing products probably most used by 13 and 14 year olds, when she's 22 (probably when her skin is better than it ever has been or ever will be again). The women used to display the anti-wrinkle creams, probably most used by women over 45, universally look UNDER 35, and don't have any actual wrinkles, while those you could verify their age are all wealthy and probably have access to more intensive anti-wrinkle treatments than the average Olay user. Drew Barrymore for example is only 35 years old, and if she does have any signs of aging, she has access to Botox and the like.

Ah, why aren't women allowed to simply age gracefully? Instead, it seems like products are made to convince women that 'OMG YOU NEED TO LOOK 25 YEARS OLD FOREVER AND EVER!' Men are certainly encouraged to look youthful and healthy, but it seems that a healthy middle aged man is just as acceptable as a healthy 25 year old man, with 'salt and pepper' hair and 'smile lines' being considered attractive even among women my age. But a single grey hair or wrinkle on a healthy middle aged woman seems to be the end of her natural life if commercials are to be believed.

Thank you for this. I'd not seen a Target: Women! episode in a while. Haskins is awesome.

There's a priceless graf in The Village Voice's recent article about white America having gone insane:

http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-09-29/news/white-america-has-lost-its-mind/

"At the same time, the baby boomers are getting older. At 80 percent white, boomers have gotten pretty used to dominating nearly every field of endeavor in this country since they came of age—politics, business, education, the arts—just about everything but MTV programming. Boomers set the national agenda in so many ways that we can forget how much the national economy and national media cater to them. Bewildered by the number of Cialis ads you see on television showing those flabby couples sitting in bathtubs? Or the way that older women are suddenly "cougars" and "MILFs" and . . . oh, yeah, you remember, boomers are getting old, but still want to think they can get the sheets sweaty. See? Boomers and their fixations and fears explain nearly everything. . . ."

From that perspective, I see these ads as carefully stoking an inherent fear of aging (and by proxy, losing social relevance/appeal, self-control, etc), targeted specifically at Boomers, and at the same time normalizing their use among the young as a form of "beauty maintenance."

Tangentially related: For those with a turgid constitution, you can look at some of the actual ingredients in these products:

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

As a skeptic, this is my favorite Target Women. Does anyone know what Sarah Haskins is up to these days?

Using scientific sounding mumbo jumbo is also a good way to not say what kind of things go in beauty products:
http://www.cracked.com/article_18671_the-6-most-horrifying-ingredients-in-everyday-cosmetics.html

I can't watch the video on youtube - I get a "blocked in you country on copyright grounds" message. I'm in the UK. But I think this is the same video on current.com: http://current.com/shows/infomania/89830244_sarah-haskins-in-target-women-skin-care.htm

I loved all of Haskins' Target: Women videos. Sadly, she parted ways with the Currents people and no longer does them. Jezebel has an interview with her, here, http://jezebel.com/5456472/i-murdered-a-screenwriter--slept-my-way-to-the-top-getting-frank--funny-with-sarah-haskins

My personal fave Sarah haskins was Target Women: Yogurt http://current.com/shows/infomania/88941392_sarah-haskins-in-target-women-yogurt-edition.htm
"yogurt eaters come from every race, but just one socio-economic class. The class that wears grey hoodies. It's that, 'I have a Master's, but then I got married' class.

God she is brilliant.

Oh, topic, you say? Stay on it, you say? Nobody wants to say they fall for the hype, but let's face it - if any of your beauty products require visiting a special store, or counter, at some point, you have sublimated this crap and are acting on it.

I sorely miss Sarah Haskins!

I'm a student from Russia and I decided to write my diploma work about euphemisms in English commercials. may be you'll name some examples of them? or commercials where I can find them? I'll be really grateful for any help!
help me please))))

I've seen/heard "hyaluronic" in several commercials now, and I always want to scream, "Hyaluronic WHAT?" I assure you that "-ic" is not a legitimate chemical suffix - unless of course it's followed by "acid," which, in this case, it is. But God forbid ads use the phrase "hyaluronic acid," because of course ALL acids are FACE-MELTING, and women (who NEVER study science or, I dunno, use google) would be scared off! >(