BEAUTY: New Dove Ads - Are You Beautiful or Average?
(hint: you are beautiful)
Self-esteem social experiment by Dove | Photo Credit: BoredPanda.com
This time last year, the personal care products company, Dove, (owned by Unilever, the British–Dutch multinational consumer goods company since the 1940s co-headquartered in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and London, UK) posted their advertisement via YouTube tapping into women's emotions on self-worth through sketches and illustrations on how they felt they appeared to the world.
In this latest round of ads, on the same theme entitled, "Choose Beautiful" with well over 3.9 million video views as of the publishing of this blog, the company presents women-only two doors to walk through, as they approach stations, in different countries, cultures and languages: the AVERAGE door or the BEAUTIFUL door.
While my 'positive esteem' blog and social media fan pages, Two Lemons And A Lime, will demonstrate,
I am all about personal power, feeling 'beautiful', and knowing your worth (#KnowYourWorth is often tagged on several social media posts) but here's the thing I want you to remember, smart reader:
Dove brand has been bringing this genre of 'empowerment' ads to our consumer wallets and self-esteem since 2004 with "A Campaign for Real Beauty" with a model whose photograph is changed for the final product (aka editing software a popular choice is Photoshop by Adobe) then 2006 with "Evolution" and over 15 million YouTube views.
Here's the kicker: while these ads, the way I see them, are an effective way to remind our busy selves who have hundreds of choices to make every day in our lives, relationships, and careers that >> we are beautiful souls, these are professional ad agencies paid to sell their client's product with paid actors and Dove is in the business of selling their product, soap.
So #ChooseBeautiful = (sub-conscience) purchase our product and you will be, look and feel what our video ads convey. (P.S. At their website (dove.com or dove.us) the men are told they will be "stronger" if they use their men's line products...moving on).
Here's the message I want you to take away from this blog post:
You don't need their inexpensive and readily available soap made with Sodium Palmitate and tested on animals. You are already "beautiful" because you exist. End of.
It's a great reminder for us, all of us, to value our worth and 'choose that beautiful door'.
Watch the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DdM-4siaQw
Thoughts?
Here's to your beautiful self always,
Sheryl x
::MORE::
"Sorry Dove, Empowerment Isn't a Personal Care Product" [The Guardian]
ETC: "Fotoshop by Adobe" (comical spoof about Photoshop-ing in the Western culture)
Dove - Skincare Reviews via Beautypedia [Paula's Choice]