Chris here. The Golden Globes seem to be leaving many in a rage, despite a rather triumphant night for women with some powerful statements made by the winners. Please indulge me in my own more frivolous and hopefully levity-infusing rage: L'Oréal tricked us into thinking Winona Ryder would be getting a star vehicle!
Awards ceremony commercial breaks always make for a solid launching pad for prestige television, and from the jump this ad had the gravitas and glamour of something more than selling products. Who is this woman hiding behind those wavy locks? Ooh, a script - she's an actress! But who? The music thumps for the big reveal and the crowd cheers for the reemergent Winona Ryder! Dramatic comeback caption... fades into leaden statement about hair. But the real lead is the the abrupt sinking in your stomach - the ad was a cruel bait and switch, and the NBC Thursday drama starring Winona was only in our minds for but a few beautiful seconds.
Reader, I was displeased. Now don't get me wrong, Ryder's return thanks to Stranger Things deserves the reward of ad campaigns afforded our other favorite actresses, no doubt. But this comeback gal also deserves something the size of which Things cannot afford and we briefly thought this ad was giving her. I wanted this to be a backstage story of triumph or a not sad version of The Comeback! In a few seconds, there was an entire season one arc and an Emmys acceptance speech painted in full in my mind that was just as quickly set ablaze.
Not to mention weird messaging here: was the message all along that her hair was the real star?! In this regard, L'Oréal has made the Three Billboards of beauty ads: in trying to do right, they've done Winona (and her fans) so wrong. What did you envision for this fantasy Winona series?