Mar
24
Onslaught by Dove
By… and we wonder why eating disorders are rising among American girls
Welcome to AdVirtues
 |
AdVirtues is a blog to explore positive virtues depicted in advertising. We are collecting information and examples and cataloging the movement toward social responsibility in advertising. Posting is free and open to all. Please sign-up today and contribute. We would greatly enjoy hearing from you and receiving feedback. |
About
Name: Lisa
Email:
Bio: I'm a senior at Southern Methodist University, majoring in psychology and advertising. Not the typical university student, I'm the mother of two faaaaabulous children who are incredibly active and keep me running all the time. When I grow up (assuming that actually happens one day), I aspire to be an account planner at an ad agency that consistently produces virtuous advertising.
Follow AdVirtues on Twitter!
4 Comments
February 19th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
One thing I find really interesting about this is that a form of mass media is being used to critique mass media. Essentially, it is an advertisement shaking its finger at other advertisements. What is powerful about this video is that Dove isn’t afraid to point out the harmfulness of some advertising within an advertisement! I love that Dove has called out the other beauty companies and the images they are propagating. It shows that you don’t need to partake in that side of the beauty industry to sell products. Dove can provide virtuous and uplifting advertising, and they have become more effective and successful by doing so. What a great example of where virtuous advertising can get you!
March 6th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Amen, Ashley! I also felt it was a brave move for Dove to admonish the beauty industry when they themselves are part of it. However, looking at their products and past advertising, I believe this campaign is consistent with their apparent philosophy… but it’s just more confrontational.
As a mother of a teen-aged daughter raised in this culture of “skinny and pretty is all that matters,” I applaud Dove! Correction: make that a standing ovation!!
May 11th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Lisa, I wondered if you had seen this video that was edited by one of our alums a year or two ago. It points out that both Dove and Axe are under the Unilever umbrella.
May 11th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Well, I didn’t know until it was shown in class… and needless to say I was appalled! It’s highly hypocritical of Dove… or would it be more accurate to state it’s hypocritical of Unilever? Clearly they’re playing both sides of the fence.
I believe the message in this commercial to be an important one… but it does cause one to pause when considering who is delivering the message. It is my understanding individual brands owned by massive corporations, like Unilever, are run very much like separate companies. It seems the ads for Axe would taint any decent advertising produced by any other Unilever-owned brand. What’s Dove to do??