Click to return to homepage
 
Campaign: Unilever/Dove - Campaign for Real Beauty ("Daughters")

The Dove Self-Esteem Fund is a national resource established by Dove as part of its Campaign for Real Beauty advertising campaign. The Fund aims to develop resources to help Canadian women and girls build self esteem and to support organizations that foster the same values in their mandates.

To promote awareness of the Fund, Dove worked with Ogilvy & Mather to develop a series of commercials that examined how perceptions of beauty are shaped by society. For this edition of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Yvette and Kate will review "Daughters", an ad that features real girls and women talking about their bodies:

The Good - Luxurious, lemony cream hand soap
(our favorite is from the Pampered Chef)
The Bad - That pink pump soap in most public washrooms
The Ugly - Getting your mouth washed out with soap
(did any of our mothers actually do this?)

Yvette’s Rating: Bad
Kate’s Rating: Bad




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li3mg1GrKe0

Yvette’s Critique:

Rating: Bad
Dove has successfully created an advertising campaign focused on one of the biggest problems in our society today - self-image. They've done it in a way that celebrates "beauty" in a unique, pure way and have delivered their simple messages and powerful images through all media; outdoor, television, PR, radio and print and now through new media. An offshoot to this campaign is a few "homegrown" style videos - this featured spot is on "Daughters" and the message is that of self-image. It's about time someone tackles this social stigma head on and what a great opportunity for Dove to grow their brand awareness - remember "that girl next door" image Ivory portrayed years ago? Listening and watching "average" looking girls talk about their tummies or not being accepted for who they are has a powerful message, however, the strategy would have been stronger if it sought to find out why this is happening... seemingly passed down generation to generation. In my view, "Daughters" is not powerful enough - good idea - bad delivery.

Kate’s Critique:

 Rating: Bad
Although Dove has done some great things to break down some barriers and get people, especially young and teen girls talking, I don’t find this one that effective and in fact, perpetuates the stereotypes. I think that everyone knows that young girls are very critical of their bodies and their need to fit in makes them very vulnerable – I don’t think this video shows us anything different or contrary to that. I find it a bit self indulgent without any positive outcomes. The tagline is strong “things won’t change unless we change them” but the video did not seem to support that view – the only parent talking said she couldn’t really communicate the message to her daughters – she had not even figured it out for herself yet. In closing, it flashes about the mother daughter workshops but with no contact info or easy way to find out more – are the workshops online, in schools, extra curricular?

Ultimately, girls need to know that what they see on TV and in magazines is not real. For this reason, I think that the Dove's "Evolution" ad (link below) is much more effective as it SHOWS the altering of perceptions and doesn’t just talk about them. (girls often don’t believe the talk – it is like when a Mum says “you are beautiful to me” - it doesn’t resonate with the child in the same way that messages from peers and the media do).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U
Archives:
 
home  |  about us  |  contact us  |  legal  |  site map  |  top © 2007 Kaleidoscope Marketing & Communications Incorporated.  All rights reserved.

 

 

Marketing Strategy Branding Advertising Public Relations Print Media New Media Home