Widely known to the public, the practice of photo manipulation using programs such as Photoshop is commonplace in professional marketing advertisements, especially for the promotion of beauty and clothing products with models and celebrities. With the leak of several before and after photo-editing advertisement work of idolized celebrities over the years, it becomes clear that the image of perfection these companies aim to achieve are humanly impossible. This potentially creates harm to developing young girls who aim for a distorted unrealistic image of perfection and beauty. Many companies idly sit by and conform to the industry norm, but one company stands against falsified beauty and instead strives to promote natural beauty, whether it is different body sizes, skin tone and hair color. Dove took a risk and launched their Campaign for Real Beauty featuring everyday woman instead of skinny models with a aim to educate the public by uncovering the truth in the perceptions of beauty advertisements. Below is one of many videos released by Dove’s campaign:
As a consumer, stumbling across Dove advertisements while watching TV was shocking at first, but I was intrigued by how different it was compared to other company advertisements. With each time I came across another Dove commercial, my appreciation for the company grew because I felt that they really understood everyday people and were in fact looking out for the well-being of their consumers. Instead of focusing on idealistic images of beauty, Dove chose a different promotion route by accepting people the way they are and promoting self-esteem. As a result, consumers feel a strong sense of trust and loyalty to the company. Based on my experience, I believe companies should follow Dove and take an ethical stance with regards to marketing instead of misleading the young children of our generation. With corporate social responsibility becoming increasingly important for a company’s brand image, ethical marketing must be taken into consideration and will truly differentiate them from their competitors.
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