Unilever, the third largest consumer goods company, owns over 400 brands. If you have never heard of Unilever, you have definitely used their products. However, with an abundance of brands under its umbrella, Unilever fails to keep its brand value consistent among its subsidiaries through its advertising strategies.

Dove, a Unilever subsidiary, prepositions itself as an esteem-strengthening brand with a vision to enhance women’s natural beauty. In September 2004, Dove launched The Campaign for Real Beauty boldly featuring women of all sizes, shapes, ages and colors.

In addition, Dove established the Dove Self-Esteem Fund that targets primarily pre-teen girls. The program handles workshops to help youth build a healthy self-image. It appears Unilever supports positive body image in real women, and rejects unrealistic stereotypes the beauty industry portrays. However, despite Dove’s social mission, Unilever also owns Axe, a male line of hygiene products, which is made famous by overtly sexualized commercials like this one and print ad like this one.

In sharp contrast to the women in Dove’s campaign, the Axe commercial features women who represent the typical beauty ideal. With slim body and unproportionally large breasts, the women in Axe commercials are objectified in a sexual manner.

Several important questions have are raised: Is Unilever truly concerned with modern women’s body image issue, or is it just exploiting women’s desire for such an inclusive message through its marketing campaign? Is it ethical for these two conflicting brand messages to coexist under the Unilever umbrella?

From a capitalist perspective, it is undeniably clever of Unilever to efficiently capture different target audience using distinct marketing strategies; However, with polar-opposite values advertised, Unilever delivers a confusing, hypocritical brand image.

Image References:
(1)http://pamemichelle.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/doverealbeauty.jpg