Dove is taking an interesting approach to branding their company. Here is the latest commercial in Dove’s attempt to get at real beauty via the global Campaign for Real Beauty.
Dove’s US research found that
75% of women agree that beauty does not come from a woman’s looks, but from her spirit and love of life…
The majority of women (78%) believe they are judged more harshly on their physical appearance than men. Moreover, 71% said they wish the media and advertising industry could appreciate the different physical types of women as beautiful. An even higher number (79%) wish a woman could be considered beautiful even if she is not “physically perfect.”
Clearly, women have a greater appreciation of beauty than a size-2 actress starving herself within an inch of her life because the camera adds 15 pounds. Dove is hoping to capitalize on that sentiment with their real beauty campaign. Dove is trying to set itself apart from the rest of the beauty industry by ascribing to the promotion of natural beauty and girlish charm in lieu of the hypersexualization of youth and the promotion of vamped out matchsticks.
Should they get credit for being well-intentioned when the impetus for this about face was likely to be market research that found women unhappy with their portrayal in the media?
Likewise, Anastasia Goodstein over at YPulse reported on Seventeen Magazine’s Body Peace Project, a year long campaign featuring articles and columns focusing on the conflicting depictions of women in the media and from girls’ social circles. Additionally, Seventeen hopes to sign one million girls to the Body Peace Treaty, encouraging young women to stop their unhealthy obsessing about their bodies compared to that of the unrealistic celebrity set.
Goodstein comments that
The last time I flipped through an issue or Seventeen or any teen magazine, it’s filled with ads that show idealized images of beauty, thin models and the same messages this campaign wants girls to make peace with… I’m all for these efforts, don’t get me wrong, but don’t you think teens will see this contradiction, too?…Why not also come out and make a pledge like, “We will no longer airbrush our cover models” or “We are actively engaging our advertisers in a discussion around creative that is more empowering to girls.”
These campaigns both feel like antics to profit off the current trend of promoting real beauty. Neither Dove nor Seventeen are leading the charge to shift the way their entire industries function. Dove is not calling on the beauty industry to promote their products responsibly, featuring realistic portrayals of women. Dove would no longer stand out in the crowd if other companies jumped on that bandwagon. Nor is Seventeen asking for all magazines sold to women to portray healthy women, rather than encourage an obsession with thinness in a nation plagued by obesity. That Seventeen is not choosing to fully embrace their own campaign by refusing to limit advertisements that contradict their encouragement of body peace, shows it to be nothing more than the marketing ploy it is.
Final thought of the day, how many women can stack up to the models featured on and between magazine covers without the same team of beauty exports. Check out last year’s Dove ad, Evolution, to see just what it takes to be a centerfold.
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