Academic Research | Relatable Content: A look inside the genre of infotainment and the foundations of native advertising
- Maria Ottavi
- Apr 13, 2020
- 27 min read
This work was developed as the final capstone project for my Bachelor's degree in Communication, conferred by Clarke University in 2020. The research conducted was overseen by Dr. Emily Goodmann.
INTRODUCTION
At the end of World War II, the general public feared a return to the chaotic flight from traditional American values that occurred during the aftermath of World War I (Smith, 1999, p.18). As a means of re-establishing a sense of social and cultural order post-war, companies began producing a number of “social guidance” films, commonly shown in high schools and junior colleges that taught youths how to act, what to value, and how they should look (Smith, 1999, p. 17). Coronet Instructional Films was one of the largest contributors to this genre of film, producing memorable short films like “How to Be Well Groomed” (1949). The Educational Films Corporation of America also produced and distributed film content which ranged from pure entertainment to informational media. One memorable example of these films was a promotional piece titled, “Daily Beauty Rituals” (1951) and starred Constance Bennett who explained her every day beauty routine to her fans.
These social guidance films, which widely replaced wellness lessons within high schools, were groundbreaking in their format. Prior to film, much of American education consisted of “classroom drills...repetition, textbooks, and lectures” (Smith, 1999, p. 16). The introduction of film in the classroom broke away from the norm and was “warmly received by the educational establishment” (Smith, 1999, p. 17). As these films became an increasingly popular strategy for influencing the public, brands began to see the exhibition of these films as opportunities for increased reach. By the 1940’s, Pond’s began producing their own social guidance films starring Mary Stuyvesant, a consultant and spokesperson for the brand. Each short film would feature Pond’s products while pedaling a lifestyle of charm, poise, and conformity. Their picture “Good Grooming for Girls” (1946), exemplifies the type of audience member that Pond’s was attempting to both cater to and create: a white, conservative, and well-groomed woman. Dial Soap also produced films like “The Clean Look” (1951) which emphasized the importance of maintaining a rigorous and regimented skin and makeup routine if a woman was to be looked upon positively by her peers. While these films appear to be relics from our media landscape’s past, this type of content and the strategies they employed to appeal to audience members remain relevant today.
In fact, since the emergence of Web 2.0 and digital video distribution platforms like YouTube, there has been a resurgence of content produced within the genre of infotainment media. Youtube, established in 2005, initially grew through the distribution and viewership of independent creators. Beauty content in particular grew exponentially on the platform and continues to grow today, generating over 1.7 billion beauty-related videos and 45.3 billion views by 2015 (Garcia-Rapp, 2017). In the past decade, brands have taken the platform and beauty niche by storm, similar to how brands such as Pond’s and Dial began to infiltrate the social guidance film industry. Glossier and Milk Makeup, two contemporary brands, began producing content for the YouTube platform between the years 2015 and 2016 respectively. Their content in many ways mirrored the existing beauty content published on the platform, from style, to messaging, to the presence of influencers. Despite being clearly distributed by Milk Makeup and Glossier themselves, the media was meant to appear authentic to the YouTube platform as if created by an independent party.
Infotainment is defined as an intersection between entertainment and informational media. Its purpose is to entertain audiences while, at the same time, providing viewers with factual details and/or instruction. The instructional quality of the media, in many ways, distracts from the promotional agenda of the product or brand, making it appear more native to the viewing environment. Though the idea of “native advertising” has only been coined within the past decade, beginning with Fred Wilson’s mention of “native monetization” in 2012, it’s become a highly valued industry practice (Manic, 2015, p. 53). In 2014, over $3.2 billion was spent on native advertising, best described as advertisements which take the “specific form and appearance of editorial content from the publisher itself” (Wojdynski & Evans, 2015).
This research argues that mid-century social guidance films, and contemporary YouTube media, belong to the same genre of infotainment. The artifacts observed specifically address ideas of beauty and femininity. Furthermore, this paper illustrates how, despite native advertising being considered a contemporary practice, strategies of native advertising were present even in media produced in the mid-century. In order to support this claim, this research project utilizes a coding frame that consists of three primary categories-- perceived authenticity, transparency, and appeal. This paper’s content analyses aim to make the strategies that are operationalized by brands from the 1940’s and contemporary brands more transparent, thereby making it easier to identify native advertising. In making these strategies more transparent, this paper will argue that the influencer model that has become popular on digital platforms is not, in fact, a new media genre. Rather, it is a contemporary version of the traditional infotainment media genre, updated to suit present-day online spaces and digital publics.
BACKGROUND
During the span of World War II, delinquency and social disorder among youths became a legitimate concern. In order to combat such concerns, the United States government produced the first renditions of what were coined as “attitude-building films,” though production companies such as Coronet Instructional Films, the Educational Film Corporation of America, and others that would later be responsible for a majority of the production and distribution of educational films in America (Smith, 1999, p. 26). It was during this time period that film as an educational and influential tool became a common practice. During WWII, corporations like Disney created films to inform the public of current events, teach safety procedures, and even train armed forces (Disney, 1945). Therefore, in the post-war era, film was seen as a media format with enormous potential to influence young people and society in general. But, it was also seen as a weapon, one that could be used to wreak havoc than regulate bad behaviors. Educators and religious groups in particular began to pay more attention to the content that was being consumed by the public (Jacobs, 1990). Film appreciation courses began to be tailored around teaching students certain ideals, norms, and traditions, counteracting the fears of delinquency and thus popularizing the use of visual infotainment media (Jacobs, 1990, pg. 30). Coronet Instructional Films produced a number of films regarding family and social dynamics, manners, and hygiene and appearance.
Sponsored infotainment media became more popular within schools at the conclusion of World War II. While it had been common for large manufacturers to sponsor films shown in schools prior to 1945, the war ending opened up the market and gave brands an opportunity to become more ingrained within everyday American’s ways of life (Smith, 1999, pg. 84). Companies such as Pond’s and Dial Soap seized those opportunities and produced a number of infotainment films. Such films spotlighted their product's narratives which taught lessons about cleanliness, beauty, and femininity.
Figure 1. “How To Be Well Groomed," 1949 via Coronet Instructional Films
Similar to societal concerns regarding adolescent delinquency, the place of women in society also became a growing concern post-WWII. During the war effort, women had been propelled into the workforce, no longer expected to only be held responsible for their domestic duties (Smith, 1999, p. 54). However, once soldiers returned to their homes, many of the new freedoms that women had been granted during the wartime period were revoked. Women were fired from their jobs, and practical, masculine dress became a style of the past. In order to enforce a new wave of femininity in the post-war generation, social guidance films were produced to illustrate the importance of women staying dedicated to the home and their femininity. “Poise, charm, and self-discipline” were common themes among the social guidance films shown to women within high school and college classrooms, as their male counterparts pursued alternate topics of study (Smith, 1999, p. 56). These social guidance films worked as one-way avenues for the transmission of information and the communication of traditional beauty standards among the female demographic. Elements of these films remain present in contemporary media, updated to better suit modern social channels.
It was in 2002 that infotainment began to take on a different form. The introduction of Web 2.0 in culture supported consumers’ interaction with media, participatory digital culture, and user interaction online (O’Reilly, 2005). Interactive media and user-generated content are staples of Web 2.0, and gave birth to platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. As the process for connection and interaction with media changed alongside the online platforms that distributed media content, the media content changed as well. Media was made to be shorter in order to encourage its shareability, and support its ease of viewing on social media channels. Audiences for online media content also began to grow around niche topics--like beauty--and supported the rise of new product spokespeople, like the social media influencer. Social media influencers, or “micro-celebrities,” leverage their presence online within a certain market niche in order to “furnish [themselves] with highly visible metrics of popularity and endorsement” (Khamis et al., 2016, p. 8). Due to the consumer-producer affordances of Web 2.0, audiences also hold a stronger belief that content produced by those micro-celebrities, or social media influencers, is inherently more authentic. Within the beauty niche alone, over 123 million users had subscribed to some form of beauty channel on YouTube by 2015 (Garcia-Rapp, 2017).
Similar to film producers’ transition from unbranded to branded films in the era of social guidance videos, a transition from unbranded to branded online media content was recently made by content creators on the YouTube platform. Brands, like Glossier and Milk Makeup, saw an opportunity to reach audiences on platforms where information was actively being sought. While social guidance films were bound to the classroom environment, the accessibility of YouTube allows for all audience members with an internet connection to actively search for instructional, infotainment media that appeals to their need for guidance. The danger of brands infiltrating these mediated spaces, both historically and presently, is that infotainment media appears native within its viewing environments.
Native advertising by definition is meant to appear authentic to users, making it easy to assume the content was created by an independent creator rather than a corporate entity. Without being able to discern branded content from unbranded content, it becomes difficult for media consumers to understand how they are being influenced by the agendas of private companies, like the ones examined in this research. By analyzing the style and messaging of both historical and contemporary infotainment media, the process of identifying branded media can become much more transparent and accessible. Moreover, media consumers will be able to become more media literate.
DISCUSSION OF METHODS
This research connects historical and contemporary media that belong to the infotainment genre. Significant patterns and strategies were identified and compared between and within both eras in order to assert this claim. These patterns were identified through qualitative content analysis conducted with a variety of historical media and with YouTube-distributed video content produced by both Milk Makeup and Glossier. This research utilizes a basic coding frame consisting of three categories, further defined by their corresponding descriptions.
CODE CATEGORIES | DESCRIPTION | CODES |
Perceived Authenticity | Features that make someone perceive something as authentic or inauthentic. |
|
Transparency | The influencer/spokesperson is directly addressing any association or affiliation with the coordinating brand. | Verbal acknowledgement of association with the brand within the content. |
Appeal | The influencer/spokesperson utilizes a motive appeal to speak to the audience member’s human needs, wants, ego, or aspirations. | The need for/to: sex, affiliation, nurture, guidance, aggress, achieve, dominate, prominence, attention, autonomy, escape, safety, aesthetic sensation, satisfy curiosity, and physiological needs. |
The purpose of utilizing a content analysis strategy is twofold. First, this coding schema will identify patterns within the selected artifacts that highlight their genre-specific similarities. Second, this coding frame will determine the strategies content producers used to make their media content seem authentic, helping it appear native to audiences in their viewing environment. Each piece of content was viewed three times. The first screening established familiarity, the second allowed for the tallying of the codes, and the third allowed for the generation of thick descriptions of the content and the annotation of meaningful observations. Similarities from the first historical artifacts were coded and marked based on the coding frame described above. The same process was used with the contemporary artifacts. Finally, the historical and contemporary content were cross-analyzed in order to compare and contrast their similarities and differences.
Within the selected codes, “perceived authenticity” and “transparency” work together to validate the genre of “infotainment,” defined by its entertainment value, agenda-saturated messaging, and how-to structure. The “appeal” code within this analysis explains which strategies are being employed by brands to cultivate and/or cater to particular audiences members--in this case, women. This same code will also suggest that certain appeals, such as guidance, aesthetic sensation, and affiliation are used in favor of others in order to construct a feeling of “authenticity” among audience members upon their viewing of this kind of infotainment media.
A total of 22 video artifacts were viewed and analyzed using this coding frame. Eight artifacts were produced and distributed by Glossier, while another 8 were produced and distributed by Milk Makeup. 6 pieces of historical content were also analyzed. The historical artifacts were produced and distributed by a few infotainment production companies, including the Educational Films Corporation of America and Coronet Instructional Films. Historical content created and sponsored by the brands Pond’s and Dial Soap were also viewed for this content analysis. A smaller number of historical artifacts were analyzed due to their comparatively longer run times. While media produced by Glossier and Milk Makeup fall within the range of 1 to 5 minutes in length, most of the historical content examined in this research ran between 10 to 25 minutes long. This variation in length is due to the difference in distribution channels between the historical and contemporary media. While most of the historical content was viewed in schools, cinemas, or televised, the media produced and distributed by Glossier and Milk was made to be viewed quickly and shared through social media channels.
ANALYSES AND FINDINGS
Cross-Analysis of Contemporary Materials
The codes most commonly identified between both the media produced by Glossier and Milk Makeup were dialogue, the narrator’s mention of “you,” the narrator’s mention of other brands, noticeable editing, and appeals to aesthetic sensation, guidance, attention, autonomy, and affiliation. The presence of the guidance code determines these pieces of media as belonging to the infotainment genre, along with the narrator’s mention of “you.” The guidance code specifically positions the media as teacher and the consumer as student, while the mention of “you” aids in building a relationship between the narrator/influencer and viewer.
These two codes are also reflective of the Get Ready With Me (GRWM) or “beauty guru” content made by independent creators. Since the development of Web 2.0 and consumer-producer spaces such as YouTube, strategies of self-branding have become commonplace for anyone who creates and publishes content. Mentions of “you” by the spokesperson works to establish a relationship between the viewer and the brand by directly addressing the audience member. The very specific “how-to” quality of the genre is brought to life by the influencer or spokesperson featured in the video leading audiences through a series of steps to reach a desired result. This conscious stylization of the content makes the media seem native and authentic to the platform.
Responses from viewers left on the content’s YouTube page support the idea that the media appears native on the platform. One user, Shelby, asked other users in the comments of “Get Ready With Me feat. Rio Viera Newton” to direct her to YouTubers who created similar content to Glossier’s, supporting the claim that other content in the same style existed on the platform. Comments left by viewers of Glossier’s content also support the idea that the reality being cultivated and accounted for by Glossier is one that audiences find not only relatable, but aspirational (Carey, 1989, p. 9). For example, in the video “Get Ready W/ Me feat. CoCo + Glossier,” (2016) a viewer left a comment praising Glossier for this stylistic choice, stating, “Such a cool and laid back video. No extra Hollywood lights, camera, and editing. No shit load of makeup steps. Just real and chill.” Another commenter agreed, remarking, “I aspire to be this F R E S H when I live at my own apartment” (Glossier, 2016). Ultimately, this natural, minimalistic environment and editing style creates a more voyeuristic experience for the audience, getting a peek into the daily routines and livelihoods of the spokespeople chosen to represent Glossier’s brand. The lack of “Hollywood” level production makes the content itself seem much more native to YouTube where influencers commonly handle all of their own production in a very “DIY'' fashion.
In contrast, the content produced by Milk Makeup is highly edited, placing their spokespeople in an empty white studio space which doesn’t at all resemble the domestic environments in Glossier’s content. Sound and visual effects are added to every clip, while bites of the spokesperson’s voice are modulated and cut to emphasize certain descriptors of the product or routine. While it may be noticeably less voyeuristic than Glossier’s content, the editing prominently resembles that of other popular content produced by influencers on YouTube.
Figure 2. Above: THE GREEN MAKEUP CHALLENGE!, 2018 via NikkieTutorials
Below: Milk Makeup Looks - “Cali Dreamz”, 2016 via Milk Makeup
This editing component of the code largely overlaps with Jib Fowles’ (1982) description of the appeal to aesthetic sensation. By cultivating an extremely distinctive and practically unmistakable creative strategy, Milk is able to distract from the fact that the content is noticeably branded and make their media seem native to the YouTube platform, similar to Glossier.
Regarding the contents’ emotional appeals, however, Glossier and Milk Makeup were stylistically polarized. Glossier’s content is more natural, and attempts to mirror “reality” as much as possible. Cuts in their footage were limited and, as a result, the final media product seemed far more seamless and less produced by Hollywood standards.
Figure 3. Above: TRIPPY FESTIVAL MAKEUP (Ft. Hydro Grip Primer), 2019 via Milk Makeup
Below: Get Ready With Me: feat. Coco + Glossier, 2016 via Glossier
Whereas Glossier is more subtle about their product placement, having their spokespeople incorporate other brands into their routines so that the appearance of Glossier products aren’t so out of place, Milk is blatant. The creation of a visually striking and entertaining artifact allows for the content to be enjoyed and viewed not due to, but in spite of, any kind of promotional agenda.
Despite their polarized aesthetics, both brands address their audience’s need for guidance in a similar manner. As stated above, the presence of the guidance appeal is one of the determining factors of infotainment media. Both Milk and Glossier have a person of some elevated status or expertise delivering the steps necessary to achieve a certain “look” or aesthetic. While Jib Fowles (1982) expresses that guiding personas most commonly take the roles of parental or authority figures, Glossier and Milk Makeup leverage the peers of their audience members (Fowles, 1982, p. 279). By using influencers who are reflections of their target demographics, but who have established online audience followings and a presumed higher social status, these brands are able to invoke a need to please or join a certain group within viewers.
Glossier also employs professionals in their content, providing their audiences with a source that they’ve deemed as trustworthy and more knowledgeable on the concept of beauty. Milk Makeup operationalizes this appeal in a number of ways that are comparable to Glossier. By consistently utilizing professional models, social media personalities, and even employees of their own company, Milk establishes a cast of objectively beautiful influencers that guide their audience through routines that engage their need for affiliation.
While the presence of the guidance and mention of “you” codes determine these materials as infotainment, the presence of the other appeal codes show strategic patterns within both brands’ media content regarding how they capture and conform to their audiences. From offering routines that will “Impress Ur Boy Crush” while on a date or highlighting products that will fix “Not-Great Skin,” the contemporary artifacts analyzed within this research actively appeal to the viewer's need for belonging and companionship. In the video “Sue’s Favorite Foundation for Not-Great Skin,” the editorial director of Milk Makeup introduces herself as someone who has an affinity for vintage clothes, a love for all things 70’s, and less-than perfect skin (Milk Makeup, 2017). As is common with makeup brands, both Milk and Glossier offer solutions for cosmetic issues that may alienate the audiences they are attempting to reach, promising them an appearance that will help them better associate with the traditional beauty standard of “flawless skin” as expressed by Sue within the video.
Glossier, though they share similar strategies with Milk in this regard, also position their brand as a personality or companion of their own. Each artifact produced for their Get Ready With Me series begins with a text frame that states the name of the influencer being featured and the phrase “Friend of Glossier.” Sandy, another one of Glossier’s influencers, compares the brand to family. After describing her close familial relationships, Sandy is shown putting lipstick on her grandmother. A number of clips are shown of the two of them smiling and laughing while the grandmother through narration admits to having not worn makeup for over ten years. When concluding the video, Sandy is heard saying “Feeling like family. Feeling like Glossier” (Liang, 2019, 0:25). The relationships depicted in Glossier’s content are deeply personal, one that the audience is encouraged to buy into. To affiliate with Glossier doesn’t make them a consumer--it makes them friends or family.
In Glossier’s “Feeling Like” series, the influencer Hannah Larsen expresses that for most of her life, she felt too self conscious to wear the minimalistic makeup produced by Glossier. She then begins speaking in a series of statements, “Feeling like me. Feeling like I’m figuring it all out. Feeling like Glossier” (Larsen, 2019, 0:24). The message that the audience is left with is that Hannah, through the use of Glossier, is able to achieve her own sense of self. This contrasts Milk Makeup and Glossier’s previous messages of affiliation, accentuating the importance of an individual identity for their consumers.
Regardless of this push for embracing individuality within each of these pieces of content, there remains an overarching theme of conformity and affiliation from both Glossier and Milk Makeup. Both brands push for the maintenance of traditional feminine beauty standards. Though the idea of femininity has become more abstract or obscure in recent years, things like flawless skin and “natural” beauty remain focal points of these pieces of media. Audiences are told by these guiding figures to be “themselves,” but only their most beautiful selves. By leveraging influencers and distinctive editing styles, both Milk Makeup and Glossier make their content seem native to the YouTube platform where their audiences go to not only be informed, but entertained. Both brands perpetuate ideals of femininity and then position their products as resources to help audiences achieve such ideals.
Cross-Analysis of Historical Materials
The most prominent codes found across the historical media analyzed consisted of narration, mention of “you,” transparency, and appeals to guidance, affiliation, aesthetic sensation, attention, and achievement. As with the contemporary media, the presence of narrator guidance, and their address of audience members using the word “you” define the content watched as infotainment media. The guiding narrator, whether celebrity or spokesperson, walks the audience through a series of steps on how to reach a certain standard of cleanliness and traditional femininity. The mention of “you” sets the content apart from more traditional Hollywood media by breaking the barrier between the guide and the audience. This connection between the influencer and the viewer works to strengthen that appeal to guidance, placing the spokesperson in a position of power and expertise. By maintaining the aesthetic signature of unbranded social guidance films that had become popular within classrooms, it was easy for brands such as Pond’s and Dial to create content that seemed native to those environments.
Most of the historical media analyzed within this research project reflected the production quality of Hollywood features and network television in the post-war era, although they were neither feature films nor television serials. They were social engineering films. The long form branded content produced by the likes of Pond’s, Dial Soap, and Coronet Instructional Films included a variety of actors, characters, and settings. Most, if not all, of the dialogue was delivered by a second party narrator not visible in the camera’s frame. One of the only outliers in the assortment of artifacts observed in this portion of the research was a film produced by the Educational Films Corporation of America, simply titled as “Constance Bennett Presents Her Daily Beauty Rituals” (1937). In this particular video, Constance Bennett speaks directly to the audience as herself, using her status as a celebrity to drive an instructional narrative, rather than putting on a character or fictional persona.
The code of transparency was a prominent, though inconsistent, feature of this portion of the research. While some content, such as “Ponds Dry Skin Cream” (circa 1940) and “The Clean Look” produced for Dial Soap (1951) were blatant about their product placement, other media were more subtle in their promotion. “Good Grooming For Girls” (1946), for instance, was produced by Lamont Corliss & Company (Glamourdaze, 2019), the parent company of Pond’s. Instead of shoehorning narration and dialogue that hailed the product’s transformational qualities throughout the film, product’s were simply placed in viewpoint of the camera and suggested within the routine. This subtle inclusion of the products is a defining characteristic of the infotainment genre. By focusing more on the series of steps that will help the audience achieve a certain result, the content seems more authentic to the original purpose of these specific kinds of social guidance films: how to act and look feminine. It’s that subtle inclusion of the products that supports the underlying agenda of convincing audiences that the product or brand itself is the key to achieving such results.
By maintaining this subtlety, the content was made to look native to the platform or, in this case, the environment of viewing. Social guidance films were initially unsponsored, either funded by the government or produced for the sake of education alone. Due to the fact that there was no shift in the actual style of these kinds of films once they became produced by brands such as Pond’s and Dial, subtle uses or mentions of the products made it difficult to discern whether the media was branded or not.
The use of “you” within each of the historical videos was consistent across all pieces of media. Rather than simply using “you” as a vehicle for building a rapport with viewers, historical infotainment media producers used it strategically to strengthen the hierarchy of instruction within the content. One of the most prominent appeals used across each of the historical artifacts examined was the establishment of an authoritative influencer who appealed to the audience’s perceived need to be guided. In every artifact examined, the narrator or influencer was older than the target audience, pandering to what Fowles calls a “parent-like” or authoritative persona (1982, p. 281). In “Good Grooming for Girls” (1946), Mary Stuyvesant, a spokesperson for Pond’s, is first seen discussing her secret to glamour with a group of young women at a bridal shower. Slowly, the discussion shifts from the comfort of a living room to a formal lecture at a high school auditorium where Mary is seen instructing girls on the correct way to care for their skin and apply makeup. Subtle Pond’s product placements are observable throughout the film, combining an appeal for guidance with the promotional agenda of the brand.
These more authoritative influencers also appeal to the viewer’s need for affiliation. By consciously referencing social norms and the traditions of femininity and beauty, brands such as Pond’s and Dial, as well as production companies like Coronet, were able to better convince their audiences that autonomy was dangerous and conformity was necessary in order to meet and secure a worthy companion. Romance was a common strategy in these branded appeals to affiliation and attention. In Pond’s video, “Pond’s Seven Day Beauty Plan” (approx. 1950), a character named Ms. Burns comes into contact with a gentleman on the elevator. He greets her, but a narration in the voice of Ms. Burns mourns the fact that the gentleman doesn’t say anything more. The seven day beauty plan being promoted by Pond’s is then presented as the routine that will capture a man’s gaze.
Beyond catching the attention of the opposite sex, the historical infotainment media analyzed in this research also sought to appeal to the audience’s need to achieve. Some brands and production companies leveraged the value of celebrity and expertise, such as Constance Bennett and Mary Stuyvesant, to inspire a sense of aspiration among viewers. Constance Bennett, in her heyday, was a successful Hollywood actress and well-known face. In her promotional video “Constance Bennett Presents Her Daily Beauty Rituals” (1937) produced by the Educational Film Corporation of America, she goes through her alleged everyday routine that just so happens to include products from her own line. Capitalizing on her celebrity and making her routine public, Bennett is communicating to viewers that by copying her routine, her success and, more importantly, her look is something that can be achieved. Additionally, by using superlatives such as “special,” “ideal,” and “best,” brands such as Pond’s were able to “make contact” with viewers’ need for success and acclaim (Fowles, 1982, pg. 283).
The emotional appeals to affiliation and the need to achieve were persuasive strategies found within each piece of historical media analyzed. Not only were they used to promote the products of brands such as Pond’s, Dial, and Constance Bennet’s cosmetics, they were also used to perpetuate traditional ideals of femininity. The guidance code establishes each of these pieces of media as belonging to the infotainment genre. That guiding figure, whether they were a celebrity like Constance Bennet or a spokesperson such as Mary Stuyvesant, provided instruction and insight to the audience about a certain product or routine, fulfilling the informational characteristic of the infotainment genre. The production quality of each of these artifacts fulfilled the entertainment value of the genre. By maintaining a Hollywood-quality aesthetic, similar if not identical to unbranded social guidance films popular at the time, these branded materials seemed native to the viewing environment.
A Comparison and Contrast of Historical and Contemporary Artifacts
The most prominent codes observed across both the historical and contemporary artifacts
are the mention of “you,” as well as appeals to aesthetic sensation, guidance, and affiliation. The presence of the guidance and mention of “you” codes support this paper’s argument that both the historical and contemporary materials observed belong to the same genre of infotainment. In both eras, the influencer, spokesperson, celebrity, or narrator represented the teacher-like figure which fulfilled the instructional component of the infotainment genre. The consistent pattern of motive appeals, including aesthetic sensation and affiliation, illustrate the content’s ability to look native in the viewing environment or on its digital platform. All of the media observed perpetuated traditional ideals regarding femininity within their time periods.
Though traditional media, such as television or film, is considered further removed from its audience than interactive digital media, historical media makes clear that even during the historical period observed, producers sought to recognize and directly address their audiences through the use of “you” in their dialogue. The use of “you” within each of the selected pieces of content also serves to emphasize the instructional or informational portion of the infotainment genre. Producers and influencers worked to address their audiences as a means of directing them through a series of steps to an ultimate, desired result. Pond’s and Dial Soap lead women and girls through skincare and makeup application, as did Glossier and Milk Makeup.
Aesthetically, each period analyzed provided highly produced pieces of content that were meant to reflect other media that was common to their viewing environments or platform. Production companies such as Coronet popularized the social guidance film genre, setting the “standard against which all social guidance classroom films were measured” (Smith, 1999, p. 89). In “How to Be Well Groomed” (1949), an actress playing a girl named Sue is seen preparing for school--washing her face, setting her hair, and applying makeup. She does this and more within the comfort of her “home,” a set built by Coronet. Coronet was infamous for styling their social guidance films like Hollywood movies, and as the industry became filmed by brands looking to promote their products, that style was retained (Smith, 1999, p. 89). Brands like Glossier and Milk paralleled that strategy of mimicking the style of popular content on the platform they were distributing on.
When YouTube was first founded in 2005, it was common for users to post content that they intended only small social circles to view, following a theme of “connected” viewing as opposed to a one-way conversation (Schroeder, 2018, p. 92). As the platform grew, so did audiences, yet there still remained an aversion to “excessive commercialism” as audiences felt it alienating (Schroeder, 2018, p. 93). Glossier took note of this idea and tailored their media to avoid such alienation. Beauty influencers on the YouTube platform often film themselves from home, a characteristic which supports and performs a sense of authenticity. Glossier also made the creative choice to film its influencers and spokespeople within their own homes, not only reflecting the aesthetic of native YouTube content, but the authentic “feel” of the material as well.
Figure 4. Above: Natural Glow Makeup Look, 2017 via Sagonia Lazarof
Below: Get Ready With Me: feat. Rio Viera-Newton, 2019 via Glossier
We see in direct comparisons between artifacts like “Good Grooming for Girls” (1946) and “How to Wash Your Face with Milky Jelly Cleanser, feat. Aesthetician Joanna Czech” (2020) a striking similarity between the guidance appeal as well. Prior to her partnership with Pond’s, spokeswoman Mary Stuyvesant had already built a career teaching fashion and beauty clinics on television for channels like WGRB (Glamourdaze, 2019). Similarly, Joanna Czech had been heralded as a celebrity aesthetician for years prior to any association with Glossier. By choosing influencers who not only carried pre-established audiences, but who held high or respected status in the beauty industry, viewers are positioned to trust these experts; they look to these women to teach them the rights and wrongs of femininity.
CONCLUSION
Infotainment media, as described above, is the intersection between entertainment and informational media. Over the past few decades, with the rise of platforms such as YouTube, infotainment has become popularized through tutorial or “DIY” media, especially within the beauty community. However, the genre of visual infotainment media has a long-standing history, originating as mid-century social guidance films. Codes used within a qualitative content analysis helped in establishing both forms of media as belonging to the same genre. The guidance code, which was fulfilled by the presence of an influencer or leading figure within the content, supported the instructional structure of all of the media analyzed. The guiding figures within the content would lead their audiences, deliberately addressed through the use of “you,” through a series of steps leading them to an ultimate result. By using a series of other motive appeals, all of the media observed developed persuasive strategies that worked to perpetuate traditional ideals of femininity, the most notable being the appeal to affiliation.
Standards of beauty were enforced both positively and negatively. Traits such as imperfect skin, and sloppy or exaggerated makeup application, were considered unattractive qualities across all of the media observed, though the historical media did approach makeup application in a more authoritarian manner. The contemporary media illustrated femininity as a much more abstract concept--one which was open for interpretation. The social guidance films, both branded and unbranded, provided clearly defined rules for how women should appear. Romance was also a strategy used within both the historical and contemporary media, a component of the affiliation appeal, leveraging femininity as a tool to draw romantic attraction.
Besides the persuasive strategies used in the content’s messaging, the format and style of both the historical and contemporary media revealed the ways in which infotainment attempts to appear native within their viewing environments. Though the idea of “native advertising” is considered a relatively new concept, first coined in 2012 by Fred Wilson, characteristics of native advertising are present in media produced in the 1940’s (Manic, 2015, p. 53). The common definition of native advertising is a “type of ad designed to blend in… consistent with the general aspect of the page and with the respective media platform, from an editorial point of view” (Manic, 2015, p. 53). As observed in the historical content, it’s clear that brands such as Pond’s and Dial took note of the strategies and styles used by the likes of Coronet and other social guidance film producers in order to create content that didn’t seem out of place in the classroom environment.
Figure 5. Above: How to Be Well Groomed, 1949 via Coronet Instructional Films
Below: Good Grooming for Girls, 1946 via Cheseborough-Ponds
Similarly, brands such as Milk Makeup and Glossier tailor their content to suit YouTube audiences, filming influencers in either their homes or studios that parallel the work spaces of independent creators and unbranded content. The how-to nature of infotainment media also allows attention to be drawn away from the promotional agenda of the content and toward the information they are providing audiences that could help them achieve a certain aesthetic or social result. By not focusing on the sale of the products and rather the use of them, brands such as Milk Makeup and Glossier are able to cultivate media that seems authentic to audiences, which is an expectation of the platform (Garcia-Rapp, 2017, p. 4). Glossier has even gone so far as to create videos of their influencers which don’t include any mention of product, highlighting the lifestyles of the guiding figure instead. It’s a common theme for beauty influencers on YouTube to create lifestyle or personal vlog content alongside their more instructional makeup content (Garcia-Rapp, 2017, p. 4). By incorporating pieces of media which deviate from the promotion of products and instead focus on the influencer’s lifestyles, brands such as Glossier are able to make their content seem even more native to YouTube.
Though the historical and contemporary media observed during this research might seem very different from one another at first glance, the presence of the guidance appeal and mention of “you” code assign them to the same genre of infotainment. That genre and the motive appeals found within materials from both eras also support the idea that native advertising, though a “new” concept within advertising industry discussion, has its foundation in branded social guidance films from the mid-twentieth century.
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