Professor Naylor-Smith
English 122
April 11, y
Meio and Mensagem’s “Cinderella” advertisement In the “Cinderella” advertisement by Meio and Mensagem, they make a strong statement that because the prince didn’t advertise properly, Cinderella was unable to make it to the ball and was therefore replaced by a different girl. The fairy-tale advertisement utilizes Cinderella as a main character, suggesting to the viewer that like Cinderella, their story could forever be altered for the worse, if Meio and Mensagem’s services are not involved. The advertisement implies that one person’s happy ever after can be stolen by someone else– which is a fear often displayed in fairy tales, such as in Disney’s The Little Mermaid through the evil sea witch, or Cinderella through the two stepsisters. The aforementioned advertisement taps into a widespread cultural fascination with “happily ever after” and exploits the power of this obsession to entirely change the company image. It seems that Cinderella is a perfect character for this purpose, as well. Her “rags-to-riches” story provides the hope and transformation that are so often present in fairy-tales that end in “happy ever after”. Because of the marriage to the prince and subsequent rescue from her life of cruelty, the story of Cinderella can be seen as something of a “poster child” for happily-ever-after. Meio and Mensagem’s advertisement is especially potent because of the choice to use Disney attire. The