Real Curves
Section from a recent article on Slate analyzing Dove's "Real Curves" ad campaign. Click here to be taken to full article.
In part, Dove's strategy is not unlike the Body Shop's old eco- and animal-friendly stance: Buy our products because you like them, but also because you're making a righteous statement. To buy Dove is to cast a vote for more "real curves" in advertising. But there's a dirty little secret here. Because, in the end, you simply can't sell a beauty product without somehow playing on women's insecurities. If women thought they looked perfect - just the way they are - why would they buy anything?
Is this a poor oversimplified assessment of the reasons why women buy beauty products, or is he right on?
5 comments:
As a male, I cannot answer your question. But those do appear to be real curves. :)
Ok- as soon as I quit laughing over JD's comment, I'll write my thoughts......
I, for one, have been pleasantly surprised by Dove's new campaign. NOT because of my insecurities, but because I believe the woman portrayed in these advertisements are just that- real. When I look at the size "0" models used on every other page of the magazine, I am disheartened. I think it is THOSE pictures that teach us to be insecure. How many young girls have eating disorders because their bodies just don't look like the airbrushed bodies found in most advertisements. I am a size 10 to 12- a bigger gal with bigger curves. In spite of exercising every day and eating healthy (most of the time)- that is the way I am. It has taken me a while, but I can honestly say that I am pleased with my body and the way I look. Dove, I don't think, is playing on my "insecurities"- but realizing the fact that most women do not look like Victoria's Secret models. It's about time we started seeing more models who actually "model" that you can be a size 12 and look good and be confident. (That being said- I've never used Dove products- oh- except for their deodorant- only because it was on sale!)
Doesn't pretty much ALL advertising play on our insecurities? Buy this SUV so you can be a cool mountain-climbing guy. Buy this aftershave so all the women will be attracted to you. Buy this pizza deal so you won't feel guilty about being too tired to cook dinner for your family. And on and on and on.
That said, I LOVE Dove's new campaign. Especially the TV ad I've seen that shows the older, wrinkly lady and the postpartum mom with the "baby belly". If Dove wants to reach society-at-large (pun NOT intended!), then bravo to them for using REAL people. The majority of us are not super-model material, and we don't readily identify with the drop-dead gorgeous people in most advertisements. I appreciate Dove's move to promote their product by using people who look like the rest of us. GO DOVE!!!
Dove is soap. I don't consider Dove a beauty product because everyone wants to smell good and be clean. That doesn't really play on my insecurities, but on my desire to not smell bad or be dirty. The fact that they use "real" women is simply a marketing strategy. If they'd just used curvy women but not pointed it out to us, we'd more likely notice it, but not really use it as a reason to buy their product. The way Dove work it they said, "Look, we're using models that look like more of you." and since we know it was on purpose we respect them and want to go buy their product. I think it's a good thing and a step in the right direction, but it's all about marketing, not about being righteous.
I like the ads but I don't like the references to "real" women. Who gets to decide which women are real and which women aren't? Does one have to be a size 12 to be considered real and if she isn't, what does that make her?
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