Definition Of “Beauty” In Japan And The US And Portrayals .

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation Thesisthat contemporary trends will not have a significant impact on the foundation ofJapanese beauty and Japanese women will continue desiring to have white, pale skinno matter what time period they are in. In regard to the US, a research conducted byVinh Q. Chung et al. (2010) shows that American people find people with tanned skin tobe attractive than people with pale skin. Saad suggests that having a tanned “isperceived as desirable as it is associated with a healthy glow and hence its aestheticsare appreciated” (Saad, 2011, para. 2). This implies that the American culture identifiestanned, golden skin as being an indication of healthful and thus are more likely to beperceived as ideal beauty.Moreover, in terms of representations of women, as US is more developed in women’sequal rights and gender equality in general, it can be hypothesized that women inMaybelline New York’s advertisements to be shown as more independent and powerfulthan that of Maquillage advertisements. Data and statistics prove that US is moreprogressed in gender equality than Japan by looking at the employment rate. Women’semployment rate in US in 2016 was 77.6% aged 15 to 64 according to United StatesDepartment of Labor (n.d.). On the other hand, Japanese Ministry of Affairs andCommunications (2017) claimed that 66% of women aged 15 to 64 were employed inthe same year, which is relatively, lower rate than that of US. Furthermore, although thedata shows that the employment rate is increasing than before and hence seenimprovements, according to The Economist (2017), “(Japanese) Women aredisproportionately in part-time or casual work—with worse pay, worse benefits andworse career prospects. They earn 74% of the median male wage on average,compared with 81% in America” (para. 5). The same article also states that Japaneseworking women who are married and have children also known as “working mama”spend significantly more time on domestic chores than their husbands. Men (husbands)only spend 46 minutes a day while women spend five hours, which is a “far lower sharethan American men” (para. 11). It is clear that Japanese society still have the norm ofwomen working at homes and doing all the housework, basically it is a more patriarchalsociety than the US. Therefore, it is reasonable to say that the advertisements ofMaybelline New York are more likely to represent women as a stronger and morepowerful character than women portrayed in Maquillage advertisements.7

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation Thesis3. MethodologyA total of 11 TV commercials of Maybelline New York and Maquillage will be analyzedand compared in order to achieve two goals. One is to discover how each countrydefines and perceives women’s beauty and their roles. Another goal is to find outwhether there is any difference in how each country perceives beauty and representswomen.Each advertisement will be described under six categories:1. Description of the advertisement2. Slogan and any other writings3. Models4. What the narrator is saying5. Concept6. KeywordsWith respect to Maquillage advertisements, all the slogans, the writings and thenarrator’s script will be translated into English. Additionally, screenshots are included foreach commercial, which helps to have a clear understanding of the contents of thecommercials.The reason why Maquillage and Maybelline New York are chosen is because ofnumerous similarities that lead to a relevantly fair and an accurate comparison. The twobrands are similar in terms of price and the place to acquire the products. Their products’prices are ranged roughly between 1000 yen to 1500 yen (or 10 to 15 US dollars) andthey are accessible in local drugstores. Also, they are similar regarding the target agegroup. The consumers of these brands are mostly made up of women in their 20s to 30s.Furthermore, both Maquillage and Maybelline New York are well established andpopular in the country of origin. This means the advertisements are most likely to reflectthe country’s ideal, true beauty of women and present the portrayals of standard womenfrom the two countries. More information on each brand will be explained in the nextsection.8

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation Thesis4. Maquillage and Maybelline New York’s History and Brand Description(including information on owners of the brands)4.1 Maquillage (Shiseido)The brand Maquillage is owned by one of the global beauty companies, Shiseido.Shiseido first started originally as a pharmacy in Ginza, Tokyo established by ArinobuFukuhara in the year 1872 and now has become one of the most well known beautybrands in the world (Shiseido Co., Ltd., n.d. b). According to their homepage, Shiseidohas the largest sales in Japanese and Asian makeup manufacturing industries andmanages business in 120 countries worldwide. In 2017, the company achieved netsales of 1005.1 billion yen and the company aims to reach over 1.2 trillion yen of netsales revenue in 2020 (Shiseido Co., Ltd., 2017).Shiseido itself acquires many brands other than Maquillage and they are categorizedinto five categories:1. Prestige2. Fragrance3. Cosmetics4. Personal Care5. Professional(Shiseido Co., Ltd., n.d. a)Maquillage is listed under “3.Cosmetics” group, which is known as “Mid- and low-pricedcosmetics that consumers select themselves, primarily sold in drugstores and generalmerchandise stores. Counseling sales tailored to market, brand and channelcharacteristics are also offered” (Shiseido Co., Ltd., n.d. a, para. 3).Maquillage was founded in 2005 as part of Shiseido’s “mega brand” strategy. By theend of March 2002, Shiseido had over 100 brands in order to provide numerous needsfor the customers (Shiseido Co., Ltd., 2005). However, this strategy was not successfulas sales decreased. Therefore, the “mega brand” strategy was cooperated in 2005 tounite these brands into fewer and larger ones with the aim to increase and improvesales revenue (Shiseido Co., Ltd., 2005; “Shiseido plans new Cosmetics Line”, 2005).9

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation ThesisMaquillage was developed from combining two past brands: “Piéds Nus” and “Proudia”(Shiseido Co., Ltd., 2006). According to the firm’s Annual Report of 2006:Within six months, due to the successful implementation of 100 percentcustomer-oriented product development and the effect of intensive marketingexpenditures, sales and recognition levels for these two mega lines(Maquillage and Uno- Men’s Brand) had significantly exceeded originalprojections. (p.12)In 2014, with Masahiko Uotani as the new CEO, Shiseido announced the brand renewalof Maquillage as part of the firm’s “marketing revolution” strategy. In other words,strengthening branding and marketing capabilities. The firm states that throughthorough customer surveys trend analysis and scientific research, Maquillage strives tobecome a makeup brand that offers beauty a notch better than other makeup brands(Shiseido Co., Ltd, 2014, p.1).Brand Renewal in 2014 with a new concept: レディにしあがれ。(Become a lady)(From AdverTimes, 2015)Maquillage products are targeted atwomen in their 20s to 30s and the 2006Annual Report further states that theproducts especially aim “atwomen who desire to continuerefining their own beautyBrand Logo of Maquillage (From Maquillage Japan OfficialBrand Website, n.d.)regardless of age” (p.13) and “women who with high regard for authenticity, quality and“mature beauty”” (p.13). Maquillage products are mid-priced and products are soldmainly in Japan but also available in Taiwan and Hong Kong. They can be purchased in10

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation Thesislocal drugstores and cosmetic stores. The brand has wide range of products includingfoundation, concealer, lipstick, eye shadow and much more.Since the brand renewal in 2014, the catchphrase of the brand has become “レディにしあがれ”（Become a lady）, promoting the charm of being a “lady” as based on theirresearch, most Japanese women have “lady” (sexy and resplendent) as their idealwomen image (Shiseido Co., Ltd, 2014, p.1). The ambassadors of Maquillage haveincluded many famous and trendy Japanese celebrities in the past and at the moment amodel, Jun Hasegawa and a pop idol/model Mai Shiraishi are the brand muses.Jun Hasegawa and Mai Shiraishi who are current brand ambassadors of Maquillage Japan (FromMaquillage Japan Official Brand Website, n.d.)4.2 Maybelline New York (L’Oréal)L’Oréal was founded in July 1909, by a young chemist Eugène Schueller in Paris,France. With its major launches and acquisitions the firm has become the leadingbeauty company in the world. The company operates in 150 countries and overall salesin 2017 were 26.2 billion euros, which is equivalent to 3.4 trillion yen (L’Oréal 2017annual report). Like Shiseido, L’Oréal owns 34 numerous brands and are divided intofour different groups:1. L’Oréal Luxe2. Consumer Products Division3. Professional Products Division4. Active Cosmetics Division(L’Oréal Group, n.d. a)11

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation ThesisMaybelline New York is categorized under Consumer Products Division, which refers toas producing:the best of cosmetic innovation available to the greatest number of people onevery continent. Its brands are distributed in mass retailing channels –hypermarkets, supermarkets, drugstores and traditional stores. These brandsoffer a wide range of coloring products, hair care, makeup and skin care.(L’Oréal Group, n.d. b, para. 1)Maybelline New York was acquired by L’Oréal Group in 1996. In fact, Maybelline NewYork itself has its own history. It was found by Maybel Williams in 1915 and their firstproduct to be sold in the market was mascara where Williams got the idea from applyingmixture of coal dust and Vaseline onto her eyebrows and eyelashes (L’Oréal Group, n.d.c). It was a huge hit and Maybelline New York is still famous for their mascaras today.The brand is offered in 100 different countries and the brand aims to provide “innovative,accessible, and effortless cosmetics for every woman” (L’Oréal Group, n.d. c, para. 1)and offers “scientifically-advanced formulas, revolutionary textures and up-to-the minute,trendsetting shades effortlessly, affordably, beautifully” (Maybelline New York, 2014,para. 1).Maybelline New York also targets at women mainly in their 20s to 30s and the productscan be purchased in supermarkets and drugstores as mentioned above. Similar toMaquillage, Maybellineoffers a wide array ofproducts such asmascara, eyeshadow,and foundation andBrand Logo of Maybelline New York (From Maybelline New York OfficialBrand Website, n.d.)even sells makeup removers and brushes. Today, the most popular product is theirmascaras especially the product: “Volum’ Express line: The Colossal” was a greatsuccess as well as The Falsies, which were introduced in 2010 (L’Oréal Group, n.d. c,para. 3).12

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation ThesisThe brand’s slogan used to be “(Maybe she’s born with it) Maybe it’s Maybelline” since1991. However, with their recent campaign called “#MAKEITHAPPEN” in 2015, thetagline was changed too to “Make it Happen”. The campaign or as the brand calls it the“movement”, supports and celebrates women around the globe to follow their dreamsand “make it happen” and help women express their identity with confidence throughmakeup (Maybelline New York, n.d.). We can see that the brand’s mission is to offerbeauty as well as empowerment for women.“#MAKE IT HAPPEN” campaign in 2015 (From Maybelline New York Official Brand Website, n.d.)What makes the “#MAKE IT HAPPEN” campaign unique and more realistic than othercampaigns is that not only features supermodels such as Gigi Hadid and Jourdan Dunnas the brand muses but also include women with other professions like Enya Mommsen,a photographer and Chiomi Ada, a choreographer/ dancer as brand muses (MaybellineNew York, n.d.). With the use of these wide ranges of women having differentoccupations as a living shows that every woman is unique and proves the possibility ofwomen pursuing any dreams.13

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation ThesisBrand muses of “#MAKE IT HAPPEN” campaign including Gigi Hadid, Jourdan Dunn, Enya Mommsenand Chiomi Ada etc. (From Maybelline New York Official Brand Website, n.d.)5. Current Makeup Industry in the Two Countries5.1 Current Makeup Industry in JapanJapanese beauty industry produced revenue of over 36 billion U.S. dollars, which isequivalent to around 4 trillion yen in 2017 domestically (Duncan, n.d. a). This statisticmakes Japan one of the world’s most major markets in the makeup industry (Duncan,n.d. a).There are many possible factors that explain this statistic. Firstly, the high revenue canbe accounted for the increasing number of tourism in Japan in recent years. Manyforeign visitors purchase Japanese cosmetic products when they visit the country(Duncan, n.d. a). Additionally, from October 2014, beauty products became duty free(“Current situation, Trend of Makeup Industry, including ranking and shares,” n.d.). Dueto this reason, many foreign visitors especially from China come to Japan and purchasegreat amount of beauty products also known as “bakugai” in Japanese. “Bakugai” canbe directly translated into explosive shopping. As Japanese products are well known forhaving high quality, this appeals to the Chinese people and consequently led to thiseffect (“Current situation, Trend of Makeup Industry, including ranking and shares,”n.d.).14

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation ThesisAnother reason is that although there is the serious problem of aging population inJapan, cosmetic companies used this as a strategy and produced particular anti-agingproducts or brands in order to solve the problems of aged related worries (Duncan, n.d.a). It seems to be that this strategy was very successful. An article from Nikkei AsianReview (2018) reports that “anti-wrinkle lotions and creams debuted in 2017 by PolaOrbis Holdings and Shiseido proved to be big hits” (para. 5).Expansion of Japanese cosmetic business to overseas can be regarded as anotherfactor to the successful revenue. Shiseido for example has its business in China, andoffer imported products from Japan through e-commerce online site “T-mall (天猫)”(“Current situation, Trend of Makeup Industry, including ranking and shares,” n.d.).Through this digital platform, Shiseido focuses to target their products mainly atChinese citizens from upper and middle class (“Current situation, Trend of MakeupIndustry, including ranking and shares,” n.d.).Exports to other Asian countries have been an additional crucial cause of the result ofhigh revenue (Nikkei Staff Writers, 2018). In 2017, the profit generated from exports toAsian countries was approximately 1.6 trillion yen ( 14.7 billion), which is 5% rise fromthe year 2016 (Nikkei Staff Writers, 2018). Nikkei Asian Review (2018) also notes,With the domestic factories of companies like Shiseido and Kose operating atnearly full capacity during December, shipments in that month totaled anestimated 140 billion yen. This suggests that shipments for all of 2017 topped2016's roughly 1.52 trillion yen, the first new record in 19 years (para. 4)and “For the 11 months through November, exports grew roughly 40% year on year tosome 330 billion yen, exceeding the full-year record set in 2016” (para. 6). This showsthat exports to Asia has been a huge impact to Japanese beauty industries and hasbeen beneficial to the business.POLA Research Institute of Beauty and Culture (2017b) conducted a survey on 1,800Japanese women aged 15 to 74 to discover how much Japanese women spend onmakeup and how long it takes them to apply daily. Results show that 83% of women15

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation Thesisuse makeup and spend an average of 2,156 yen ( 19.08 US dollars) per month oncosmetic products. The same survey also found out that: foundation is the most usedproduct and then lipstick, eye shadow, eyebrow and blush; it takes an average time of15.1 minutes for Japanese women to wear their everyday makeup and use an averageof 8.46 products. Also, results show that the younger generation (15 24 years old) tooka longer time with the average of 20 minutes due to the usage of more products.Another survey organized by POLA Research Institute of Beauty and Culture (2017a)with the aim to determine how Japanese women gather information on beauty showsthat most of the Japanese women use information from the product advertisements atthe store followed by review sites and TV programs/ commercials. Social media wasranked pretty low with seventh place. However, among the young generation (15 19years old), SNS was the most used media to collect beauty information and then reviewsites and friends/acquaintance becoming second and third place. A survey conductedby TesTee Lab (2017), a research media, also supports this result of SNS being usedthe most to collect information for the young people. This means that at the moment inJapan, beauty advertisements and other media have an effect in shaping the beautystandards. However, as the younger cohort becomes older and have a greaterspending power, the social media may be used more often as a tool to gather makeupinformation.5.2 Current Makeup Industry in the USUS produced revenue of over 86 billion US dollars in 2017 which is 2 billion dollars morethan the previous year making US as one of the world’s leading markets for beautyproducts (“Beauty and personal care: U.S. market value 2013-2018 Statistic”, n.d.). Infact, the country was regarded as having the world’s number one major beauty andpersonal care market in the year 2016 (Duncan, n.d. b).Beauty is hot within the American society and according to Nicolaou and Keane (2018),the beauty market is expected to grow up to 750 billion US dollars in 2024. As a matterof fact, the same article written by Nicolaou and Keane (2018), also states that the mainreason for this beauty boom is because of YouTube and the rise of social media. Beautyis the second most viewed category on YouTube and people from the millennial16

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3)Graduation Thesisgeneration are more likely to trust and believe the YouTube vloggers over the bigbeauty companies (Nicolaou & Keane, 2018). There are countless numbers of beautyvloggers on YouTube and they provide reviews of beauty products to millennialconsumers, which they are influenced and are very likely to buy the product, if it hasreceived good reviews (Nicolaou & Keane, 2018).The article also states: “almost half of US shoppers admit social media has played apart in a beauty purchase, according to Fung Global Retail” (Nicolaou & Keane, 2018,para. 23). This demonstrates that the social media has a strong influence on thepurchase of beauty products by the millennial generation and even older generations inthe US. This is very different from Japan where only the young population is influencedby SNS the most, out of all forms of media. The social media can be an efficient tool forrise of sales in terms of beauty industry but, it would cause a detrimental effect to themarket when this social media boom (Instagram especially) disappears.In the US, foundation is the most purchased makeup category, followed by mascaraand lipstick (Duncan, n.d. b).It appears to be that American women spend a lot of money on makeup products.According to a survey conducted by a beauty e-tailer, SkinStore, results show thatAmerican women spend around 300,000 US dollars just on their face in their whole life(“How Much Is Your Face Worth?,” 2017). The survey was conducted on 3,000 womenin the US. The survey also reports that women wear makeup (including skin careproducts) worth of 8 US dollars everyday which is an average and over 45% of womentake around seven minutes to do their everyday makeup (“How Much Is Your FaceWorth?,” 2017). The survey also found out that American women us

Megumi Taruta (1M151151-3) Graduation Thesis 5 1) Foundational Beauty: Skincare, hair care, hair color, sunless tanner.These play important roles in providing a solid foundation for one’s beauty. 2) Enhancement Beauty: Color cosmetics, accessories and style.These are all the