I’m never exactly sure how to feel about this kind of video that expresses a message I completely agree with (that your worth is not determined by your external appearance) but are produced in order to sell a product (that enhances your external appearance, no less).

Behind every materialistic desire is a spiritual longing.

On the one hand:

This advertisement is reminding you of your soul’s deep longing to express and value itself authentically – it’s getting you in touch with that which you have forgotten – AND THEN pulling a bait and switch at the end and telling you that the way to truly embody your soul’s earnest wish to be who you really are because you’re worth it – is to buy some shampoo or makeup or whatever.

But on the other hand:

The message is true and Kate Winslet gives a glorious performance. But don’t pretend you don’t know that everyone is selling something.

I sell. You sell. We’re all selling something.

L’Oreal is just being who/what it authentically is. A seller of cosmetics. And isn’t it a good thing that instead of a surface level advertisement that promotes vanity and insecurity, they are reaching for something deeper?

Is an authentic message weakened when it is expressed through inauthentic means?

Or can the light of a truly authentic message in fact elevate and redeem the less authentic means?