Dove
really began to differentiate itself from its image of a monotonous personal
care line to fighting for a cause for women. In 2002 dove launched its “Campaign
for Real Beauty” the campaign aimed to “challenge the stereotypes set by the
beauty industry over the years” (Journal of Critical Incidents, 2011) by promoting self
confidence in women by featuring “real” women of all shapes and sizes. Dove exposed how the fashion and beauty industry often distorted the face and bodies of models by using photoshop and that these models young impressionable girls looked up to, were in fact "
The
campaign was inspired by the daughter of Patrick Cescau (Unilvers CEO) as she
expressed her personal feelings towards the pressure to look like women
portrayed in the media and her discontent with the way she looked (Journal
of Critical Incidents, 2011).
Dove
continued with their mission of being a voice for women, and launched another
“Self Esteem” campaign that aimed to reach women on a more emotional level (Journal
of Critical Incidents, 2011). Their strategy clearly proved to be successful as Doves
campaign video became one of the most viewed on YouTube.
Dove
embodies the essence of a self-confident woman who feels comfortable in her own
skin and consequently takes care of her body with Dove products.
Inversely,
Unilever used a completely different approach for their men’s personal care
line, Axe. The Axe advertisements featured women with the type of bodies that
were deemed damaging to young girls self-esteem. Furthermore, the
advertisements were scrutinized for degrading women.
Unilever claimed the Axe
ads were funny and the Dove campaign was not an attack on the beauty industry
but an effort to address low self-esteem in girls (Journal of Critical Incidents, 2011).
- L.M
Bibliography
Journal of Critical Incidents, Volume 4, Is
Unilever Hypocritical (2011)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=litXW91UauE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySgtLofMU5g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tWZB7OUSU
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