Dove’s real beauty and Bill Hicks

26th October 2007

PSFK point to a remix of Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign.

Their latest ad “Onslaught”, ends with the message “talk to your daughter…before the beauty industry does”. It’s part of a campaign that includes the Dove Self Esteem Fund, which “is designed to help free the next generation from self-limiting beauty stereotypes”.

The irony here is that Unilever IS the beauty industry, as this remixed ad shows, mixing up the worthiness of the Dove campaign with the ads for Ax/Lynx - another brand owned by Unilever.

In the remix, the ad becomes slightly sinister. “Talk to your daughter - before the beauty industry does” sounds less like a concerned organisation with your best interests at heart and more like a threat - like a bully giving you a headstart.

Looking through the website of the “Campaign for Real Beauty”, there are global surveys on “beauty pressures” and “beauty ideals”, things you can do to help (including donating to Dove) but nowhere is there a mea culpa that Unilever, as a global FMCG company, might have played the tiniest role in creating this state of affairs.

If you are going to sell yourself on your values, then they had better be authentic. Otherwise, you leave yourself open to the criticism of branding and marketing that is encapsulated in following Bill Hicks segment (which is full of swearing).

“You know what Bill’s doing now - he’s going for the righteous indignation dollar - that’s a big market - Bill’s being very smart”

So is it genius campaigning? Is it an organisation at war with itself, fighting over its values? Is it the first step on a long road to a more responsible beauty industry? Or is it a cynical schtick designed to sell soap? It’s baffling.