Campaign for real beauty - do ends justify means?

So much great press for the Dove brand and its Campaign For Real Beauty.  No doubt that on the surface, the concept has touched a global nerve and has hopefully started to drive real change.

But isn't the campaign really just one step away from astroturfing? As a brand, Dove's purpose is to sell "beauty" products.  Soaps, shampoos, lotions, deodorants - 16 different categories in all.  The end game here is to use the feel-good message to sell more products.

I find it wildly ironic that Dove creates an ad that blasts the beauty industry - in order to sell more of its own beauty products.  Yet few people, if any, seem to pick up on this.  They're too busy praising Dove for being bold and showing "reality."

The fact that Unilever owns both the Dove and Axe brands should be a hint.  Both brands are winning truckloads of advertising awards - testament to hype overcoming reality.

In the end - if Dove can help a generation of women feel better about themselves and increase their bottom line along the way - I guess the end justifies the means.

Comments

[Lewis Green]

Peter,

I try not to over-analyze the motives behind marketing messages. Unless we are inside the thinking, we seldom can understand the motives behind the messaging.

I agree that all marketing is about selling, and the Dove sells beauty products. I think what is great about Dove's campaign is that the message is that the purpose of "Soaps, shampoos, lotions, deodorants - 16 different categories in all" shouldn't be seen as a way to make you beautiful as defined by the beauty industry. In may ways, I think Dove's campaign is about authenticity (and selling products). Both objectives are good things.

[Pete]

OK Lewis - agreed, nothing wrong with either objective. Hopefully consumers realize that the purpose of an ad doesn't change, despite the creative - to sell.

Also interesting that both Dove and Axe have been so successful with different approaches. What if they were reversed - would the industry celebrate ads about out of shape guys playing pickup basketball, instead of Air Force 25? Don't think so.

[Marianne Richmond]

Pete,
Agree with the irony call regarding the Dove ad although maybe astroturfing is a bit harsh since they did not hide that it was a Dove commercial.

Their AXE advertising and promotion on the other hand is targeted at adolescent boys and if anyone thinks that they don't take the shameful AXE messages seriously I would invite them to drive a carload of teenage boys to the mall and listen to their conversations.

Marianne