Dove

In the 1950's the Lever brothers, William and James, introduced Dove bath soap to the American market. The first production of the soap was in the Netherland's and was called De Duif which means "the dove." Until this point American bath soaps were made from stringent detergents which left a mess in the bathtub and were harsh on skin. Dove's claim to fame was the fact that it solved both problems; it doesn't leave a ring around the bathtub, and it moisturizes your skin. In 1979 Dove soap was analyzed by a dermatologist and scientifically proved to be the healthiest soap on the market. When this study was published the popularity of the brand skyrocketed and this is the biggest contributing factor for the brand's longevity and positive public opinion. 
Marketing demographics for Dove products has been consistent since the introduction of the original soap. The Dove products are marketed to anyone. All age groups and genders are included. Their current product categories consist of five main areas: Bar/Body Wash, Lotions, Hair, Deodorant and Men+Care.  
I have chosen Dove to be included in this project because of the controversy of their Real Beauty Campaign. I have looked at nine leading cosmetic brands, the models used, who they market to and what their messages are. Dove rejects the status quo of the media's traditional version of marketing to women. They take a stand when it comes to a woman's definition of beauty and self-esteem. They have exposed the truth of models in magazine and commercial advertisements by showing that the advertising standards that women are expected to live up to are unrealistic and ridiculous.  
Dove realizes that they will sell more products and win more loyal long term consumers by telling the truth. They point out that their competitors  are selling a lifestyle that is unattainable. The following videos and advertisements are proof that Dove cares more about women than making an easy dollar. 
  The devil's advocates of the Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty, harp on the photo-retouching in Dove's own advertisements. Claiming that Dove is being hypocritical and therefore the models used are not as "real"as they are advertised to be. Really and truly these rebuttals are nothing more than bitter, pessimistic nit-pickers looking for anything to use as evidence to bring down the positive message of this campaign. It is a standard practice of any photographer or digital software user, to use photo editing to eliminate or marginalize certain negative aspects that are inherent in the digital photographic process.  Dove has shown to use these techniques in a conservative manner and no where near the same extent of their competitors. They are not enlarging eyes or elongating necks, they are removing dust and changing lighting effects. Their opponents would say that because their advertisements are re-touched at all, they are being hypocritical.    

Campaign for Real Beauty

CITATION

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way, this, the intention of Dove is clear. The more people search for “real” beauty, and this ad campaign is one of the perfect ‘false consciousness’ examples. In fact. " Konos in the air."  Konos in the air. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://konos.wordpress.com/>.

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