Wednesday, August 03, 2005

The New Dove Billboards

This is a subject that’s been gnawing at the back of my mind, but somehow the story broke in the mainstream media before I could get around to it. Still, I’ll weigh in here:

Don’t those Dove billboards bug you? In case you haven’t seen them, they show somewhat plump (or perhaps I should say “real”) women standing around in their underwear (it doesn’t quite look like lingerie) looking delighted to be showing off their bodies. The name of the campaign, Real Women have Real Curves. Check it out.

I don’t know what to make of it. I’ve been struggling to even find an angle with which to attack this subject. But here are a few questions that may help us sort it all out:

1. Would Old Spice ever consider having a billboard titled Real Men Have Beer Bellies?

2. If I’m not that curvy, should I take offense? Am I not a real woman?

3. Is Dove fattening? If I use Dove, will I end up looking like these ladies?

4. If I were obese, would the message be that Dove will help me lose weight?

5. When will they finally take these billboards down?

There, I’ve broken my silence on this matter. Of course, when I put my marketing cap on, I have to ask,

1. Has this campaign boosted Dove’s sales?

2. If Dove had spent the same money on a more standard set of ads, would it have been more effective?

I’m hoping the answer to #1 is no. Failing that, I hope the answer to #2 is yes…

Did I mention that these ads are for anti-cellulite cream....???? (Aug 6)

6 Comments:

At 11:50 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why do you want the ads taken down? Are you afraid those women are catching? Why don't you want the ads to be successful?

Also, your link to check it out...doesn't work.

 
At 5:15 PM, Blogger cosmopolitan life said...

I want them taken down because I find them ugly and offensive to women. Men would never make fools of themselves in this way. I want them to fail because if they succeed that'll seem to indicate that women are oblivious to insult.

Thanks for pointing out the link. I fixed it.

 
At 2:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Okay, having seen the link, and not having seen the billboards yet, I recognize that I saw them in a magazine and thought they were ORDINARY MODELS! One or 2 weren't really that pretty, and a couple of them have rather big thighs. That's it. I don't think they're fools, and I think they're very attractive, with good bodies.

Surely you, being a yoga buff, see that they all obviously work out, and as I read on another blog, my first thought was, how do they keep their stomachs so flat? Really good abs. This is not comparable to a man who has a beer belly and doesn't work out - what a loser. And I guess I don't feel insulted, nor should they. Why shouldn't they be a model just like the bony women and the plus-sized? And these women look nowhere near plus-sized.

Perhaps you have become one of those judgemental LA gals who despises all women over a size 7...

 
At 8:37 AM, Blogger cosmopolitan life said...

I didn't mention that the ads are for anti-cellulite cream. Do you still feel the same way about them?

 
At 12:45 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe I just don't understand what you mean.
I know it's anti-cellulite cream. They've been trying to make one for years, so my first thought was, huh, wonder if this one actually works. I've had cellulite since I was in college - I guess it just doesn't bother me! And I like my legs a lot.

Is it the idea of the cream itself that you don't like? Women shave their legs, and men don't, so would a big ad for a shaver, of a woman shaving her leg, also bother you?

 
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