This blog post is in response to Kamila’s post Dove “Campaign for Real Beauty”
Dove has been known to advocate for natural beauty in women. Awareness is certainly a positive action, and Kamila puts it well when she says:
“Dove did a really good job by raising the issue of how we see beauty”
However, in addressing what can be a sensitive subject, Dove has also opened a can of worms in regards to what sort of message is really being portrayed by their Real Beauty commercials. Take the recent “Real Beauty Sketches” ad for example:
This feel-good commercial which has certainly incited sentiments of self-confidence in women across the United States, or as Kamila put it:
“one of the best advertising campaigns, because it is directly addressed to the real people, passing by the stereotype of female beauty with model looks”
has also come under fire for making assumptions to how we address real beauty.
On the top of the list of complaints is the idea that one of the sketches is considered ugly while the other beautiful. Does that mean that age, wrinkles, moles and face roundness constitute unattractiveness? Are women the ones that need to change their attitude towards what they look like? It begs the question whether we as society should be telling women that they are more beautiful than they think, or whether society needs to change their assumptions about beauty.
So how genuine is Dove really? Do they really believe the message they are putting out there, or are they perpetuating an idea for their own marketing benefit? I don’t know the real answer, but Dove is certainly doing something right. If the virality of their commercials are any indication, they are also doing some good along the way.
For more regarding criticisms of the “Real Beauty Sketches” Dove commercial, check out the posts below:
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-people-hate-doves-real-beauty-ad-2013-4