Is there a point when companies’ marketing tactics go from being effective to highly unethical? I believe there exists such a point. As it turns out, Dove does as well.
In 2004, Dove launched a campaign called The Dove® Campaign for Real Beauty. The idea behind the campaign is to promote real beauty. To do this, Dove created ads using real women, in their natural state; at no point in the process were they graphically edited, modified or photo shopped.
Before Dove’s campaign the majority of companies used models who were underweight and suffering from eating disorders. Photos of these models were digitally transformed to make their appearances more appealing. When the photos were released they were of girls who had had their faces morphed by professional photo-shoppers until the photo looked more like a barbie doll than the real girl. They were not however, solely releasing a photo, but a false definition of beauty. Girls all around the world tried to look like these models, and when they could not compete with the edited photos, they lost self-esteem, were more self-conscious and a whole lot less confident. Companies and their marketing teams had managed to redefine “beauty”. In 2004 a study was done, and results showed that because of all the unethical techniques these companies used, only 2% of women around the world could describe themselves as beautiful (Social Mission Article, Dove).
Media has such a huge impact on young children, and when companies start having control over a young girl’s self esteem and self worth, it’s unacceptable. I strongly believe that when a girl sees photos these “perfect” models, her definition of “beauty” can’t help but be swayed. Dove saw that many marketing techniques were becoming very unethical, and seized the opportunity to come up with a technique that was effective and ethical. It was at this point that Dove started the campaign for real beauty, in the hopes of re-instating the original definition of beauty and to help every girl “[grow] up with the self-esteem she needs to reach her full potential” (About the Movement, Dove).
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