Brand image is everything, That’s why it’s important that a brand stay true to the image they are trying to portray. If inconsistencies are found with what the brand is supposed to stand for and how they actually run their business, customers will lose trust, and if customers lose trust, companies lose business. When brand hypocrisy is brought up the first company that comes to mind would be Unilever. Unilever is the parents company to many popular brands, including both Dove and Axe. Yes, that’s right. Dove with it’s campaign for real beauty, and Axe, the company with arguably the most degrading ads towards females on TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9tWZB7OUSU

Dove appears to be working hard to break down the social custom of what beauty is perceived as, though I find it difficult to become invested in their campaign. How can a company promote natural beauty, while at the same time send out ads depicting the classic supermodel thin, every man’s dream woman. I believe that the dove real beauty campaign is a great one, and definitely does wonders for their brand popularity, but at the same time they can’t be as effective because in the back of peoples minds, they are still thinking of those infamous Axe commercials, which leaves people questioning the true intention of the company.

(Jennifer Wells. Taking the Axe to Unilever’s Hipocricy. thestar.com. Published November 28, 2007.  http://www.thestar.com/opinion/columnists/2007/11/28/taking_the_axe_to_unilevers_hypocrisy.html)