The Dove campaign for real beauty drew attention and controversy when it began in 2005. Now, Dove adds new direction to its real beauty campaign, with ads targeting real men to promote the new Dove Men+Care line of body wash, deodorant, and other personal care products.
The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty
Dove shocked audiences around the world in 2004 and 2005 with its innovative "real beauty" ad campaign, featuring women with real curves and real bodies rather than the airbrushed, stick-thin models that are the norm in the fashion and beauty industry. The posters drew both applause and scorn, but the ad campaign may have saved Dove from declining sales and the "Campaign for Real Beauty" became a turning point that began to shift the paradigm of beauty in the advertising world.
In tandem with the ads, Dove also created the Dove Self Esteem Fund and spearheaded workshops, programs, and web materials to help improve girls' and women's self esteem in the face of the harsh and unrealistic images of women that are available in the media.
New Dove Ads Feature Real Men
Beginning in 2010, Dove's campaign for real beauty is heading off in new directions with a similar campaign targeted at real men. The new line of personal care products – Dove soap, body wash and deodorant under the name Men+Care – is already hitting shelves, but the new ad campaign debuts during the Super Bowl on February 7, 2010.
Is there a need for new advertising directed at men? According to the Toronto Star, 80% of Canadian men don't feel that they are accurately portrayed in the media or in advertising – something that Dove's campaign for real beauty intends to change.
"Men reject advertising that portrays the ideal man as rich, implausibly handsome and aggressively ambitious – irresistible ladies' men driving luxurious sports cars. Apparently real men are more inclined to value their personality and sense of humour over money and possessions," reports Toronto Star editor David Graham.
And two thirds of Canadian men use women's personal care products (at least sometimes) because men's soaps, shampoos and other products just don't perform as well – but only 24% are willing to admit to doing so on surveys.
Paul Connell, Brand Manager at Unilever UK (Dove's Parent company) has been quoted as saying, "Our vision is to extend the Dove brand promise and expertise of superior care to men across deodorants and shower, the two fastest-growing sectors in male toiletries… There's a huge gap in the market as there are currently no toiletry brands specifically catering for more mature men, which the new Dove Men+Care range is set to fill."
Sources
- Graham, David, "Dove's Idea of Real Beauty to Include Average Joes," Toronto Star, 15 January 2010.
- Talking Retail, "Dove reveals its masculine side – Dove Men+Care," TalkingRetail.com, 15 January 2010.
Victoria Anisman-Reiner - Victoria Anisman-Reiner is a freelance writer with extensive experience in holistic health care and animal training.
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