controversy over Dove's campaign 'onslaught'

[truelies]

Beauty brand Dove has launched a second attack on its own industry for promoting unrealistic body aspirations among girls with a shocking new ad campaign.

But critics have expressed reservations about the sincerity of the message, as the brand's parent company, Unilever, markets other products using the same methods criticised in the ad.

A follow-on from Dove's award-winning 'Evolution' campaign, 'Onslaught' has been viewed more than 250,000 times since Monday and is currently the most linked-to video on the web.

The one-minute video opens with an innocent young girl standing in a neighbourhood street, wearing no eye shadow or hair product.

As the soundtrack kicks in, she is bombarded a surge of images — fad diets, models in provocative poses, bulimia and plastic surgery.

The ad ends with a final statement: "Talk to your daughter before the fashion industry does".

Dove Australia marketing manager Candice Fernanadez said the aim of the ad was to help young girls resist societal pressures and see themselves as beautiful.

"There's an avalanche of images available to them that make them feel they have to conform to a specific stereotype," she said.

But Professor Catharine Lumby, from the University of NSW's Centre for Social Research, said critics of the beauty industry often made the mistake of suggesting women were brainwashed and passive.

"I'm a feminist but I think it's simplistic to say the beauty industry is all evil," she said.

"I think young women are often far more aware of critiques about the fashion and beauty industries than any other group previously. They're far more aware than women in the 50s would have been."

Professor Lumby said she was not surprised that a producer of shampoo and body lotion was using messages against the beauty industry.

"What Dove is trying to do is associate its brand with a message that they know sells," she said.

"I think their campaign is recognition that young consumers are very ambivalent about the beauty and fashion industry.

"But that doesn’t mean they're not going to want to buy shampoo or body lotion."

Unilever also owns beauty brand Lux, which boasts on its website that "Demi Moore, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Jennifer Hawkins are some of the stars who've appeared in our ads."

But Ms Fernanadez said the company recognised there was a place for every aspiration in the market.

"We're not saying that what happens out there is wrong or that it's not an option but we're giving people a choice to aspire to one thing or another," Ms Fernandez said.

"We provide the other side of the story to enable young girls to be aware of influences and to have a balanced viewpoint of what is beautiful."

news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=302495

heres the link to the video- youtube.com/watch?v=JaH4y6ZjSfE



you can make anything prejudice, you can make anything racist, you can see the bad in anything... you see what you choose to see out of things. 'a simplistic way of saying the fashion industry is evil.' i beg to differ, i think its just a realistic way of presenting how much we idolise and are influenced 'beauty' (or how beauty is shown in the media).... its only truth and anorexics, bulimics, people with low self esteem are out there to prove it. i'm sure there are other causes for such things, but the media plays a substantial role.

its all a matter of perception i guess. whats your take on it?

[truelies]

klacoste said:

Last year, I had the "privilege" of walking into a Dove ad blitz in Central Station whenever I went to work. The walls were plastered with semi-naked images of old or obese women. My eyes shouldn't have to be offended just to boost someone's self-esteem.

I don't believe men are exempted either. You often see luxury car ads featuring sharp, wealthy men driving around the countryside. I don't see many "masculinists" jumping up and down crying sexism or low self-esteem. I'm sure most guys agree that being wealthy is highly desirable.

a bit of a spin on the topic. but i agree.

[xandra]

I find it hard to take their ads seriously when Unilever also owns Axe body spray. I applaud the message, but it doesn't mean much when they're putting this out there are the same time:

[swordcane]

Personally, I find the Dove ads highly insulting. Not only are they in the same vein as the saying "real women have curves" (What are thin/non-curvy women? Fake women?) but they imply that women are brainless sheep easily lead by whatever is in front of them. Most of their "real" models are what I'd call "TV ugly", you know, the kinds of people that we're supposed to believe are plain/average even though they're still better looking than most of the population. Their "realistic" ads are retouched just like any other ad, yet they're patting themselves on the back for being more honest.

[Ave`]

I think young ladies know more then you think they know. Even if you try to impose what you think to them, its pointless. Remind me of a Baz Lurhman piece

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.....

[jewbird]

Maybe they just figure ugly people are a larger market.

[cm]

we are all brainwashed by the media in some form. so it is unfair to target women only being brainwashed.

on the side of men, many become obsessed with lifting weights to reach unattainable buff body and end up roiding up. Annorexia is also a problem in men.

[cm]

But are you really bettering yourself if you are wasting 3 hours at a gym everday taking all these 'supplements' that end up ruining your health in the long run?

Staying fit is one thing. But steroids is a big problem for men in the US. The health affects of steroids are well documented, linking with roid rage, cancers, infertility, acne, heart disease, etc.

[truelies]

^ the add is obviously targeting women, because they are trying to sell products to women. if they were targeting men then they would use men in their campaign. the add is just addressing a world issue, it is neither negative or positive but just acknowledging the universal truth, that women are affected by the media, and yes, everybody is in some way or another. but the campaign is targeting women, so obviously they are using women as an example...

adds that come on about the starving and dying people in africa don't have starving and dying people from kenya on them.

[truelies]

^ that was in response to this.

'we are all brainwashed by the media in some form. so it is unfair to target women only being brainwashed.

on the side of men, many become obsessed with lifting weights to reach unattainable buff body and end up roiding up. Annorexia is also a problem in men. '

[Guy in the white shirt]

An ad, is an ad, is an ad.

I always remember the old sprite ad...
'Image is nothing, thirst is everything. Quench your thirst. Drink Sprite!'
Brilliant!! An image of not having an image.

Same goes for the Dove campaign. They're just selling an image.

[Emily]

Regardless of Unilever's inconsistency and hypocrisy, the message is still reaching girls that are highly impressionable. Sure, Dove may be run by a huge conglomerate that knows no limits and doesn't hesitate to use media to crush women's self-esteem to get them to purchase the newest beauty product. They're a business. The purpose behind this campaign is highly questionable and it's most likely a marketing scheme. So what? Girls that easily fall prey to the beauty ideal will also view this series of ads and might also be swayed into thinking natural is beautiful. Sure, they'll still be bombarded by millions of other ads putting forth the beauty ideal, but the Dove ads might stick with a few.

We might see right through their game, but it's still doing some good.