Whats with all the critisism?

However, even though Dove have seem to spend a lot of money, time and effort to launch the campaign for real beauty there are many people who feel that the campaign is all a sham. The campaign as received some huge criticisms about its real intentions for launching the campaign as Unilever (the owner of Dove) also produce a product called ‘Fair and Lovely’, a skin-lightening cream aimed at dark-skinned women from different countries so they can make their skin ‘Fair’ and in effect more beautiful, yet Dove try to teach us that physical variation is what’s beautiful.

It was also widely distinguished that Unilever also own the brand Lynx who’s advertising campaigns would seemingly contradict the sentiment of the Campaign For Real Beauty. Furthermore, Unilever owns and markets their AXE brand of hygiene products, where their campaigning staple is to overtly sexualize women. The main advert where they overtly sexualize women is in the ‘Lynx effect’ advert when an average male sprays lynx over himself to find women come running along the beach towards him in their bikini’s (highly out of his league) and start undo-ing their bikini tops. This strategy is blatantly hypocritical in contrast to Dove's campaign for "Real Beauty", as AXE exploits "idealized" female sexuality to market AXE products towards young men. Although I feel there is no justification for the ‘Fair and Lovely’ branding of products, Unilever could validate that the reasons they use a complete deviation in terms of marketing the Lynx/AXE products is that the targeted audience are a completely different crowd as Dove is targeted at women and Lynx is targeted at men. At the end of the day they have to sell a product and Unilever have noted that using this exaggerated marketing deploy of over sexualizing women has made their Lynx products highly successful when targeting males. Although this is a valid reason however this still would not solve the problems of women with a lack of self-esteem and anxiety over their flaws.A small minority of women will have the confidence to feel independent and that they only have to be beautiful for themselves, however  the fact is that the majority of the women will want to feel attractive to the opposite sex. This is because it is built into our brains to gain this attraction from the opposite sex from the very beginning. Unilever may launch thousands of campaigns and funds to boost the confidence of the women. If advertising marketed at young men are still showing this perception of ‘idealized’ females they will begin to think that the manipulation of advertisement and this perception of idealized females is possible and achievable, then young men will never understand the concept that Dove is trying to get across and will never appreciate ‘real beauty’.

 

(on the page there will be an image of the ‘Fair and Lovely’ product, a couple of examples of the lynx adverts including a comparison between lynx and Dove)

Dove Campaing For Real Beauty

Not everything in the cosmetics industry however is out to manipulate us. Dove has launched a campaign to show what ‘Real Beauty’ is. Dove strives to publicize and celebrate the natural physical variation embodied by all women and inspire them to have the confidence to be comfortable with themselves to which part of the overall project was the “Evolution” campaign. The campaign was launched in 2004 and one of the billboards in the series asked viewers to phone up 1-888-342-DOVE to vote on whether they thought the woman on the billboard was “fat” or “fab” and the votes were posted real time on the board. Whilst at the beginning of the voting the Marketers where overjoyed that “fab” was leading the vote by 51% to 49%, eventually the percentage of “fat” votes overtook “fab”, much to the marketers horror of their failure to reach their aims and intentions of changing the public’s perception of beauty. Like I have, Dove had seen the consequences that manipulating the public into thinking that airbrushed photos where natural and in effect achievable therefore Dove campaigned to keep women aware of being proud of what nature has given you. What I like about their advertisement billboards is the layout that the Graphic Designer has put them through, as you can see the models in the adverts are not photoshopped, going completely against modern day advertisement of making everything look ‘perfect’, by dove leaving the models to be left how they are indicates that they are already perfect just the way they are and highlighting the fact that every physical variation that women embody is beautiful in their own unique way. The images are always displayed on a white background which in my opinion not only emphasizes the features of each individual model but it also gives it a clean, natural and fresh look, unlike the cosmetics industry itself where surgery and defacing the natural body and the harsh chemicals placed in the products give the industry a ‘dirty’ feel. Most of the billboards have “Does beauty mean looking like everyone else?”, what I find brilliant about this is the fact that it highlights what the beauty industry has become, the beauty industry have almost manufactured their opinion on what is beautiful and photoshop models to the extreme to create this manufactured image of beauty by making the models thinner, taller, bigger eyes, smaller nose, more angular face, longer neck, bigger hair, bigger boobs, longer legs (and the list goes on)to the point where the model looks nothing like the outcome but identical to every other piece of advertisement available, when what is actually beautiful id the fact that every woman is highly unique yet this is not celebrated. My most favourite feature of the Dove campaign is the fact they add answer box’s to their billboards on whether a woman is ‘freckled?’ or ‘flawless?’ etc. and what I find brilliant about this marketing technique is that it demands an answer from its viewers, some marketing techniques are ‘good’ in a sense that it will make its viewers wonder or question what the advertisement is portraying however with the technique they have used it is highly difficult for the viewer to not have their opinion pop in their head whether they share it or not and demands them to answer what they truly feel and in result get them to question themselves why do they have that opinion.
Later on as part of the campaign in 2006, Dove started the Dove Self-Esteem Fund which was another attempt  to change the Western concept of beauty from ultra-thin models with "perfect" features to making every girl (and woman) feel positive about her looks. The Marketers were determined to not make the same mistake twice therefore promote the Fund, Dove ordered a series of highly-successful online-based short films promoting the self-esteem concept, which to date includes Daughters, Evolution and Onslaught (see below).

Cultures - ideal beauty

Japan

In the Far East, in Japan, a century old tradition offers an original beauty recipe treatment: nightingale droppings. These are transformed into a powder, mixed with soap and used as a face wash. The facial is supposed to make the face look young.

Kayan Tribe

The female members of the Kayan tribe (situated on the border between Burma and Thailand) have another ideal of beauty. Also known as “long necks”, they measure a woman’s beauty according to the brass rings wore around the neck. As they grow older they increase the number of rings which gives them an elongated neck appearance. They start this ritual as early as the age of 5 and their neck is absolutely transformed by the heavy rings. The elongated neck is a result of the pressure the rings put on their shoulders, clavicles and chest. The shoulders are being pushed down, that’s how the elongated neck appearance is achieved.

Indian

In India the long hair, the jewellery worn excessively especially at weddings, the coloured saris and the home made remedies take beauty to another level.

Africa

Ethiopia - Karo tribe

In Africa the idea of beauty varies from one side of the continent to the other. In Ethiopia, the women of the Karo tribe wear scars on their stomachs meant to attract a husband. The scarring process starts in childhood and once finished it means that the woman can get married and have children.

Mauritania

In Mauritania being skinny is definitely not a sign of beauty. Here a beautiful woman is a woman with curves…big curves. Nowadays forbidden, the gavage is in many cases the way of achieving a true, Mauritanian beauty. Through gavage young girls are being force fed in order to fatten them up. A “heavy” lady is more likely to be desirable and get a husband.

 

 

Middle East

In the Middle East beauty is sometimes not connected with what ones sees, but with one does not see, or with what one smells or catches a glimpse of. From the head to toe black covers women wear (called abaya) that sometimes reveal only the eyes, to the dark eye kohl pencil, henna tattoos, oud and coloured fabrics, scarves and jewellery. 

 

Polynasian

The Polynesian women are considered to be beautiful if they wear traditional tattoos on their lips and on their chins.

Western World

In the Western World the standards are different; the means of achieving beauty are sometimes extreme as well. From plastic surgery, implants, hair extensions, hair colour to fitness, diet and cosmetics, the beauty has a different meaning. What ever nature has not given, the knife can solve. The Western ideal of beauty is a skinny, tall, good looking lady (90-60-90 if possible) with perfect teeth, perfect hair and perfect fashion. A 24 hour working lady if possible, who never complaints, who is up to date with the latest fashion trends, is a fighter, considers herself a “Superwoman” because she can achieve whatever she desires, all by herself.

I don’t know which woman is more beautiful. I don’t know which one of the beauty rituals work and I definitely don’t know how one could compare the different types of beauty. One thing is certain: beauty is dictated by the places we live in, cultures we are a part of, traditions we are following.

All I’m saying is that diversity is beautiful and beauty is an individual, subjective concept.

Dove - Onslaught

Dove - Mothers and Daughters

Dove Ad:The Evolution of Beauty

Custody battle rages over 'Toddlers and Tiaras' tot