As social media has skyrocketed in popularity over the past several years, corporations have been using their platforms to spread movements and publicly point out issues in society. In this regard, social media can be very detrimental to a company’s success if a mistake is made. Social media is designed to target a huge demographic of different ages, sexes and personalities which can lead to disgruntled consumers if the wrong message is conveyed.
Dove is under harsh scrutiny over an advertisement they released that was deemed to be racist. Out of curiosity I researched the topic and found an interesting article by Rowan Morris. Rowan put a unique spin on his blog by analyzing how brands are affected by these sorts of controversies in the long run. Interestingly enough, in this scenario Dove’s quarterly results have not changed and they still remain the leading bar liquid soap in the US. Furthermore, this is not the first time that Dove has been accused of racism. Nevertheless, Dove has been able to recover and maintain their “wholesome” image that they project to consumers. However, not all companies can remain unscathed. For instance, Massey Energy had an explosion in their mine in 2010. Due to poor safety regulations Massey was bombarded with lawsuits and were forced to shut down.
According to Alison Coleman from The Guardian, “The main principle for when PR crises hits brands they must be dealt with quickly and robustly in order to be contained”. It is a possibility that Dove could just be very efficient at covering up for their mistakes and that is why they have not suffered many long term consequences.
I believe that Dove must be held responsible for their actions. Personally, I don’t believe that what Dove was trying to portray was intentionally to discriminate against races. However, whether or not if the ad was intentionally racist is not a question. Advertisements in this sort of style are presented in a way for the consumer to be able to connect on a personal level to the ad. It is imperative that the company conveys their message in a way that the grey area does not exist. Moving forward Dove needs to be more careful with what they are portraying. It can only take one mistake for consumers to revolt and a company to come crashing down.
WC:390
Works Cited https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/the-10-companies-burned-worst-by-bad-press/240448/#slide7 https://www.mediacom.com/uk/think/blog/2017/dove-and-the-big-brand-pr-crisis Images https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nigerian-model-featured-controversial-dove-ad-defends-campaign-n809396