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16th century masterpiece has evolved from its status as the quintessential renaissance
portrait into a global icon, recognized the world over.2 Remarking upon its fame, Pulitzer-
prize winning author, Dave Barry, said, You should definitely visit the Louvrewhere you
can view, at close range, the backs of thousands of other tourists trying to see the Mona
Lisa.3
skyrocketed to fame after its theft from the Louvres walls in 1911.4 The resulting
proliferation of the image, and the countless comedic and artistic reproductions that
followed, placed the image squarely within the realm of advertising.5 Its legendary beauty,
meteoric rise to fame, and consequential commodification have imbued the painting with a
particular set of values. These values have proved useful in marketing a vast array of low-
involvement beauty products, among many other items.6 In its many and various
renditions, the Mona Lisa has become a successful advertising tool that captures attention,
conveys cultural value, and improves memory retention in the mind of the consumer, all
A mere mention of the Mona Lisa7 is enough to recall a definitive image to most
peoples minds. The subject sits at a slight angle with her face turned toward the viewer
and her right arm crossed over her torso.8 An expression of possible amusement plays
across her face, and her dark brown hair is evenly parted around her. Clothed in a soft
green and brown dress, she sits with her back to an atmospherically rendered landscape
whose hazy blues and grays depict a series of rivers and valleys splayed out in the
distance.9 More than five-hundred years after its creation, cracks and wrinkles are evident
Originally lauded as a feat in portraiture, the image has continually garnered the
admiration of academics and political figures.11 Giorgio Vasari wrote that the Mona Lisa
possessed, a smile so pleasing, that it was a thing more divine than human to witness,12
and Napoleon himself had the painting hung in his bedroom for four years, describing her
Coupled with the mystery that surrounds her identity and the reason for her smile,
19th century Europeans became fascinated with the painting due to the revived interest in
the Renaissance.14 Stemming from a Romantic fantasy of the femme fatalethe Mona Lisa
was co-opted into [a] chorus line of dangerous beauties.15 In a journal entry written by the
courtesan who wears the smile full of night of the Gioconda.16 Today, though she may not
easily align with contemporary beauty standards, she is still an effective tool in selling low-
involvement beauty products because she exists outside of time as a mythological beauty
icon.17
Despite the previous reverence held for this painting, the image did not then
engender the type of tourist-frenzy that exists today.18 This fanaticism arose as a direct
result of its theft from the Louvre in the early 20th century.19 The ensuing outrage over the
theft was primarily incited by papers such as the Petit Parisien that, stressed that [the
Mona Lisa] was no ordinary Renaissance masterpiece but the unusual portrait of a
mysterious womanIt was not just a theft. It was abduction, almost a rape.20 One account
of the reporting hysteria that ensued states that journalists, mourned the loss and hyped
newspapers were utilizing her image as a marketing tool to sell their publications, as seen
in a 1913 issue22 of Le Petit Journal.23 This global proliferation of images of the Mona Lisa,
and the accompanying crash course in Leonardo da Vinci and Renaissance art, would
educate the masses on the work and make it accessible to people of every socio-economic
status.24
If not for the Mona Lisas recovery in 1913, the work might have faded back into
relative obscurity. Its discovery and retrieval from Italy, and subsequent showings in Milan,
Florence, and Rome prior to its homecoming in Paris, revitalized the worlds fascination
with the artwork.25 Over one-hundred years later, it remains one of the most recognizable
type of satirical productions that had accompanied news of its theft two years previously.27
Everything from postcards to cabarets utilized the Mona Lisa for commercial purposes,
turning her into a marketing gimmick.28 These exploitations, more than anything else,
would cement the Mona Lisas position within popular culture while distancing it from the
arena of high art.29 Its increased popularity became repellant to the intellectual elites of the
After years of rejection by the avant-garde, and critical renditions by the likes of
Malevich31, would come Duchamps infamous postcard of a defaced Mona Lisa in 1919.
Rebelling against the formalist idealism of Renaissance painting, and attacking the
pursuit of the idea of an art object whose artistic status was only reliant upon the
proclamation of it as such.33 Duchamp was well aware of the commodification of the Mona
Lisa and her use in advertising. It is therefore significant that he chose to alter her likeness
on a postcard, a cheap commodity that is easily disseminated. As one of his ready-mades,
the postcard is unaltered in its portrayal of the Mona Lisa, with the exception of a drawn on
goatee and moustache, and the caption L.H.O.O.Q.34 Spelled out in French, the caption
roughly translates to, She has a hot ass.35 Rendered in this way, Duchamp was also
criticizing museums in general, of which the Mona Lisa is emblematic.36 Similarly rejected
by the avant-garde at large, the Mona Lisa would slide firmly into the category of kitsch and
Due to the Mona Lisas explosive popularity and mythological status, it seems only
natural that the image would be assimilated into advertising in order to sell low-
involvement beauty products. The ease with which the image is recognized helps to break
overly saturated with media messages.38 When presented in a novel fashion, its ability to
attract the eye of customers can then trigger irritation and heightencuriosity,39 which
One of the earliest examples of the Mona Lisa being used in advertising comes from
a 1937 Maybelline ad40 for eyelash darkener, eyebrow pencil, eye shadow, and eyelash
grower41. The black-and-white spread features an image of Leonardo da Vincis Mona Lisa
juxtaposed with a made-up, new and improved Mona Lisa whose eyebrows and eyes are
more well-defined.42 The text below the image reads, See if you do not agree with us that,
lovely lady though she was, her charm would have been increased a thousand-fold with
proper eye make-up.43 As an inexpensive and low-risk series of products, these Maybelline
beauty aids required a low level of involvement on the part of the consumer when making
purchasing decisions. As such, the use of a well-known, alluring image worked to initially
capture the attention of a buyer and differentiate the product from its competitors.
Additionally, this ad was successful in its novel use of the image and its ability to
mitigate cognitive effort on the part of the consumer. Constantly over-stimulated by media
attractive on a neurological level.44 By slightly altering the Mona Lisas visage, the ad
Furthermore, because novel imagery is linked to the release of dopamine in the frontal and
temporal regions of the brain, the novel use of the Mona Lisa can help to create positive
convey value and meaning.46 Playing off its extensive history and the ease with which it is
recognized, the semiotics of the Mona Lisa further validates its use as a marketing tool.
In a 2007 Pantene advertisement,47 the Mona Lisa is again easily recognized and
rendered nearly identical to the original image, with the exception of soft, cascading waves
replacing her usual veil-covered head.48 At its first semiotic level, the Mona Lisa is a sign
that represents high art and culture.49 Emptying it of meaning, the sign becomes a new
signifier that produces a signification that posits the Mona Lisa as the pinnacle of aesthetic
representation.50 The Pantene advertisement then builds upon this myth of historic female
beauty and mystery, conveying to the consumer that they too can achieve this type of ideal,
In a very similar way, the Maybelline advertisement also plays with this same
system of meaning by communicating to the viewer that the Mona Lisa is beautiful, just like
the potential buyer, but that both could become even lovelier with the use of Maybelline
products.51 Each ad engages with the myth of the Mona Lisa through connotative semiotic
an art object.52 Beate Flath writes that, Art is part of our cultural heritage but it also
signals prosperity. This applies above all to the status of oil paintings.53 Considered an
aesthetic and cultural authority by the masses, if not the intellectual elites, the Mona Lisa
can be effectively used to make an emotional appeal,54 one that contributes to the
self.55
interchangeable, products, Joan Gibbons writes that, this excess requires consumer
choices to be made not so much on the basis of the use or exchange value of the product,
but on the basis of its worth in terms of symbolic value or cultural capital.56 By conflating
the meaning of the Mona Lisa with Pantene shampoo and Maybelline eye make-up, both the
product and the brand become oriented in the mind of the consumer as an option that will
help them to achieve a set of beauty standards associated with their conception of an ideal
self.
Moving beyond its implicit set of meanings and its recognizable appearance, the
Mona Lisa has further been used so successfully within advertising due to its memory-
retentive value. In order to be useful as a selling tool, it is necessary that the advertisement
make an impact on the long-term memory of the individual.57 Therefore, a primary goal of
any brand is to be placed within a consumers evoked set of products, which consists of
those brands that are top of mind when making a purchase decision.58 In both the
Maybelline and Pantene versions, the use of the Mona Lisa encourages this placement
through semiotic meaning, they are more likely to be assimilated into long-term memory,
memory, the advertisement will be available for later retrieval for a longer period of time.
While many ads are both visual and symbolic in nature, the use of the Mona Lisa
poses an advantage because it is already understood and tied up in the collective cultural
and reinforcing the stages of encoding and storage, thereby creating a stronger association
and making it even more memorable.60 It logically follows that the successful memory-
retentive use of the image in ads is bolstered by its pre-establishment within the psyche of
the consumer.
it is typically impractical for them to filter through and absorb all the data that could
possibly have an impact upon their buying decision.61 The formation of these cognitive
shortcuts simplifies their purchasing habits, positioning the brand as a superior option in
the minds of customers and encouraging repeat purchases, which will ideally lead to brand
loyalty.
The Mona Lisa has evolved greatly since its conception, most radically in the past
century. On top of its use in a multitude of advertisements, the name Mona Lisa is
frequently used as a title for everything from beauty blogs to cosmetic supply companies
and beyond.62 Moving forward, new renditions and conceptions could continue to alter the
meaning and cultural value of the piece, which will dictate its future use in advertisement
and other mediums. For the time being, its ability to spark recognition, the novel way in
which it is used, and its semiotic and memory retentive value, will continue to be of use to
Image B: Le Petit Journal (1913)
Image C: L.H.O.O.Q (1919) Marcel Duchamp
Image D: Maybelline Advertisement (1937)
Image E: Pantene Advertisement (2007)
Image F: Vidal Sassoon Advertisement
Image G: Mona Lisa Salon & Spa - Aveda
Image H: Mona Lisa Skin & Body Bar
Image I: Mona Lisa Cosmetic Supply
Image J: Mona Lisas Beauty Corner