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(10 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5)
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We are surrounded by media of all kinds – be it electronic or print – and every day, quite naturally, we spend a significant portion of our viewing time gazing at commercials. Commercials are tools through which companies advertise their products to the public. Most advertisements walk the well-trodden path of using tried and tested advertising techniques to capture public attention. However, these lemmings flow in and out of one’s memory, never leaving an indelible impression. However, there are a few advertisements which by their innovative nature, hit you hard and find a place in your head.
Dove Evolution
One such ad which still remains in my memory is the Dove Evolution campaign of 2006. Though it has been four years since Dove released it, this startling advertisement still raises eyebrows and sends out a strong message, in the process boosting the image and value of the brand. The advertisement was a huge success among viewers as well as critics. It made its mark by winning two prestigious Cannes Lions Grand Prix awards as well as an Epica D’Or. The advertisement hit the nail on its head when it spawned a whole lot of discussions around the world.
The seventy-five second TVC starts with a plain looking girl, played by Stephanie Betts, walking into a studio and sitting down. Lights are switched on, focused on her face, and music starts to play. An army of make-up artists start working on her face with brushes and other tools used for applying make-up..
This is shown as a montage, tracking the progress of the transformation being wrought on the woman’s face: from a plain face to an attractive one. The make-up artists work on her face, hair, eyes and eyebrows to make over an ordinary face into a stunningly beautiful one. A photograph of the changed and newly made-up face is taken. Subsequently, software is used to edit the photograph, changing the details of the face to fit a certain stereotype of how a beautiful woman should look. The neck is elongated and the eyes made bigger – so that the final image conforms to the pre-conceived notions society holds on beauty. The face finally appears in an ad for a fictional beauty products company. The advert ends with the line “No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted”.
The impact of the ad
The Dove Evolution advertisement succeeded in reaching out to a large audience and drove up the sales of the brand. The ad was aimed at young women and teenage girls who, as the whole wide world knows, are almost exclusively the market for beauty products. As every girl is not as stunning as the model in the final image of the ad, the advertisement seemingly empathises with millions of prospective buyers.
It speaks out to these members of the fairer sex and sends the message that they do not need to be models to be beautiful. It creates an impression that Dove understands its customer base and engineers its products to suit them rather than concentrating on glamour. The success of the ad is apparent from the fact that it generated a lot of interest and discussion in various sections of the media, mainly in talk shows and women’s magazines. Some talk show hosts even promoted the ad on their shows. It generated media coverage of such amazing magnitude that Unilever, the parent company of Dove, estimated the ad to have garnered 30 times the paid-for media space.
Behind the scenes
The advertisement is thought provoking and tells us about the behind the scenes activities in the modeling and advertising industry. The practices shown in the ad are largely true and are followed by almost every advertising agency. There is not much wrong on their part as they (the agencies) are just trying to attract people to their product with a beautiful face. However, people who view the ad often set the edited and artificial image as a benchmark of beauty and bend over backwards to achieve the same result.
In essence the ad tells women to appreciate their own natural beauty and be happy with who they are rather than aim for something superficial. Of course, it would be wonderful if every girl were as beautiful as the final image shown in the ad. But that is not possible and the advert urges people to realise that fact.
The ad has also been labeled hypocritical because Dove, being in the beauty products business, itself, advertises and promotes stereotypical concepts of beauty. Unilever has various products which use models who confirm to these false concepts, thus indirectly urging its buyers to have a shot at making their faces similar to the ones shown in the company’s advertising..
In fact, Dove itself went on to sign popular models and singers as its brand ambassadors. By speaking out against the phenomenon, Dove’s critics feel that the product is only aggravating the problem as the basic intention of any ad is to make people buy the product. Thus the Dove ad was seen in some circles as Satan quoting the scriptures. Dove is a part of the huge system it cries out against, they maintain.
The Dove ad was definitely a memorable one. It brought out some relevant issues and gave rise to intense discussions, though the company’s purity of intent is doubted by many. I liked the ad for its innovative nature and the spirit it showed in addressing a social issue. Dove has gone on to release ads of similar genre, the pro-age ad being the most notable of these. May we see many more such interesting advertisements.
Aju Basil James
(10 votes, average: 4.60 out of 5) Loading ...
Good one! The views expressed are thought provoking. The ad is self-critical, as the ingenuity of transformation to a beautiful woman (from a not so beautiful one) is questioned here.