I saw this over at Allie’s blog. Dove has something called the Campaign for Real Beauty, a celebration of women all colors shapes and sizes. It’s meant “to educate and inspire girls on a wider definition of beauty and to make them feel more confident about themselves.” They raise money for programs that teach young girls about self-esteem, host workshops, etc. They’ve put out a few commercials, the best of which shows the process a model goes through from before makeup to the final photoshopped billboard (it’s amazing, watch it here).
Their latest commercial is called Onslaught, it shows the various images young girls will see in movies, advertisements and on television.
Great message, right? Protect your daughter from the constant barage of media that is telling her she isn’t smart enough, thin enough, or sexy enough.
The thing is Dove makes beauty products. Beauty products that people wouldn’t buy if you didn’t somehow convince them that they aren’t pretty enough. Product that tell you that your hair is too heavy, your skin is too rough, your butt isn’t firm enough and your face looks old. And all of these Dove products are made by Unilever. The same Unilever that makes Slim-Fast, a product that has to convince you that you aren’t thin enough, and if you drink a chalky drink you’ll become skinny (and thus happier, right?).
Unilever also makes Axe body spray, which seems to have become experts at making vile advertising that portrays women as mindless animals that are fooled into having sex by spraying cheap overpowering deodorant all over you body.
So it’s great that Dove (and Unilever) are making a statement about helping our daughters learn the importance of a good body image, but it would feel a little more honest if they weren’t making money both ways. I hope I can help my daughter understand this message without buying Pro Age Body firming cream. Like everyone else Dove cares about money, that’s it. And if making me feel like they care about women makes them money, that’s why they keep doing it. If sales of Dove dropped sharply this year, you can bet they’d be shooting a commercial with Paris Hilton telling you how old you look and how Dove will save you from aging.
Axe stinks, and guys who use it seem to always use a ton! Why is that supposed to be appealing?
Interesting commercial. I’ve liked both that I’ve seen so far.
Not to knock the point of the blog or anything, but I saw a parody to the “Evolution” video called “slob evolution” that was hilarious.