Recently, Dove released a new television commercial where women were given the option to walk between two doors: one marked "beautiful," the other marked "average." Most women walked through the door marked 'average' but then towards the end of the video women decided to identify as 'beautiful' instead walking through that door. This video has caused quite a bit of controversy recently.
Here is the video:
While some critics think that the video is 'patronizing,' others see the video as uplifting and empowering to women. One fact important to note is that since Dove has started its "Campaign For Real Beauty" that it sales have gone from $2.5 to $4 million. This makes me wonder whether or not Dove's intentions are to promote an idea of natural beauty or rather if this "campaign" isn't just a clever advertising scheme to get women to spend more money on Dove products. While I am still on the fence about the true intentions of Dove, I think it is important to discuss the role of advertising in the media.
Advertising is known as the "driver of mass media." Today advertisements have the power to influence what shows will remain on television and which ones will not. The goal of advertisements is to produce material that attracts the largest amount of viewers, rather than alienating any one group. The messages must have a high appeal and must not be controversial, unpleasant, or distressing.
The mass media is frequently accused of ignoring people of color or treating them in stereotypical ways. In this and other Dove commercials, women of various different races and ethnic backgrounds have been portrayed. The 'natural' look of the women also helps to promote the message that women look beautiful the way they are, naturally. This multicultural media aids in Dove's profits due to the fact that brand loyalty is higher among minority groups.
So, this brings me back to the question: is Dove really trying to promote natural beauty, or is there a profit-driven motive behind these commercials? While I cannot say for sure, I think it is an interesting issue to delve into more. Here is another commercial where Dove promotes multicultural diversity in order to promote a product.
Do you think that Dove is just promoting natural beauty and diversity for profitability? Check out the videos and this article and decide for yourself. Leave your opinions, comments, questions in the comment section!
Great post! I've watched a lot of Doves beauty campaigns and I too had the same question about their motives. I then thought that it was kinda sad that my first reaction to something that is so positive is okay whats the catch. I do think that dove is doing a great job promoting natural beauty and diversity. I think it is very telling that in their videos they don't promote their product but simply put their brand name on it. Again it is a marketing tactic but I'm okay with getting behind a company that is doing it's part to spread a positive message.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think that this is similar to when she was talking in class about how companies do a bunch of research in order to better market to a larger audience. It's definitely sad that we have to consider motives when watching commercials but I do feel that it is important to look at commercials with a more critical eye because in some cases, it really may be a marketing ploy to bring in more money, such as the multicultural marketing method in the recent years.
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