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Dove's real beauty campaign thesis
Dove's real beauty campaign thesis
Dove's real beauty campaign thesis
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As of the modern day, advertising is everywhere; it is on our televisions, we hear it on the radio and we see it on cars and trucks. Advertising can take many forms, one of which is propaganda. Propaganda techniques are useful in persuasion and drawing people to a certain cause but mostly we hear of propaganda being used in times of war. However, the Dove’s Real Beauty campaign is a modern day example of propaganda that uses many known techniques of persuasion. This campaign is very prevalent in today’s society because it targets body image among women; more specifically, the campaign aims to positively change how women view themselves. Lee & Lee (1972) describe multiple types of devices that are associated with propaganda such as, name calling, 1). In order to achieve a certain result, propagandists rely on developed techniques used in the majority of advertising campaigns. Dove is a company who utilizes propagandist elements in their advertisements. Dove’s intent is that their campaign will help to solve the issue of self-esteem in women by using propaganda techniques. Some techniques Lee and Lee describe as, relating an idea to something bad, associating something with a word most would consider moral and using objects that are considered respectable and then carrying that respect onto another object (1972, pp. 23-24). These are all common ways to increase the effectiveness of propaganda and specialized to a specific audience, but the main techniques used in the Real Beauty campaign are pathos and [This] phase of the campaign was created to debunk the stereotype that only thin is beautiful” (“The Dove® campaign for real beauty”, n.d.). This part of the campaign was monumental because “all women in the ad are real.” (Fielding et al., 2008). Because the concept of real women was implemented, women were able to relate their own self-identity, flaws and overall body image to the women on the advertisements. The use of “real people” in Dove’s campaign helps people realize that average citizens can still be as beautiful as the people that are consistently portrayed in the usual advertisements. These real people offer a connection to an individual’s everyday body issue struggles and allows Dove’s audience to recognize the fact that beauty should not be limited to western societies view. Ultimately, this section of the campaign allows viewers to make personal connections to the models in the advertisements which furthers Dove’s intentions of the Real Beauty
A certain value is put on commodities and services that in turn promote “consumption of products that encourages conformity to feminine beauty ideology”. (Johnston & Taylor, 2008) Media and advertising also immensely influences the way one looks at themselves and how much they compare their own beauty to the models on TV screens and in magazines. Through advertising, Dove promotes a movement to minimize institutionalized and structural gender inequality, and encourages the practise of self-care. Although its is makes great business sense, it is clear that their is a prioritization of commodity purchases above the overall message which creates brand loyalty. Dove shows mixed messages early on in their campaign as they are “telling women to buy creams, "slim" down, put on a bra and generally engage in… the "body project" (Essig, April 22, 2013) and “young girls started to worry far more about cellulite on their thighs than goodness in their hearts”.
In a brilliant update of the Killing Us Softly series, Jean Kilbourne explains the dangers of advertisements and how they objectify women. Advertisements intelligently portray women in a sexual and distorted way in order to attract the consumers’ attention. Media sets a standard on how young women view themselves and puts them at risk for developing an eating disorder. Kilbourne’s research has led her to educate those who have fallen victim to achieving the “ideal beauty” that has evolved in today’s society.
...ization of the Thin Ideal, And Perceptions of Attractiveness and Thinness in Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty." International Journal of Advertising 29.4 (2010): 643-668. Business Source Premier. Web. 14 Feb. 2014.
Advertisers use women that are abnormally thin, and even airbrush them to make them appear thinner. These advertisers promote a body image that is completely unrealistic and impossible to achieve (Dohnt & Tiggemann, 2006b). It has been instilled in these advertisers’ minds that a thinner model will sell more (Hargreaves & Tiggemann, 2003). Media has a direc...
This is a stereotype, which has been engraved into heads of men, women, and children. By plastering the world with models who seem to have it the genetic jackpot, Dove set out to discredit this cultural cast created by our society. Body image, to some people, is the first part of a person they notice. A study conducted by Janowsky and Pruis compared body image between younger and older women. They found that although older women “may not feel the same societal pressure as younger women to be thin and beautiful…some feel that they need to make themselves look as young as possible” (225). Since women are being faced with pressure to conform in ways that seem almost impossible, Jeffers came to the conclusion “they should create advertising that challenges conventional stereotypes of beauty” (34) after conducting various interviews with feminist scholars. The stance of Figure 1’s model screams confident. She is a voluptuous, curvy and beautiful women standing nearly butt-naked in an ad, plastered on billboards across the globe. Ultimately, she is telling women and girls everywhere that if I can be confident in my body, so can you. Jessica Hopper reveals, “some feel that the ads still rely too heavily on using sex to sell” (1). However, I feel as if these are just criticisms from others who are bitter. With the model’s hands placed assertively placed on her hips, her smile lights up the whole ad. She completely breaks the stereotype that in order to
The documentary Killing Us Softly 4 discusses and examines the role of women in advertisements and the effects of the ads throughout history. The film begins by inspecting a variety of old ads. The speaker, Jean Kilbourne, then discusses and dissects each ad describing the messages of the advertisements and the subliminal meanings they evoke. The commercials from the past and now differ in some respects but they still suggest the same messages. These messages include but are not limited to the following: women are sexual objects, physical appearance is everything, and women are naturally inferior then men. Kilbourne discusses that because individuals are surrounded by media and advertisements everywhere they go, that these messages become real attitudes and mindsets in men and women. Women believe they must achieve a level of beauty similar to models they see in magazines and television commercials. On the other hand, men expect real women to have the same characteristics and look as beautiful as the women pictured in ads. However, even though women may diet and exercise, the reality...
Unfortunately, a lot of females fall into those traps and do not consider themselves beautiful unless they’re a certain weight or have their skin a certain way. Nobody embraces their bodies and their looks besides those that society gives you a perception of something that doesn’t exist to be “perfection”. And in the Dove commercial which I used in my presentation to state the image society has given women shows the wonder of photoshop. It showed how an average woman was changed into someone with a skinnier neck, perfect hair, and flawless skin all with the magic of technology. And by using real life human models it given women the perception that if they look like that then I can
When asked what beauty is, most women will point to a magazine cover at a size two model — a small waist, long legs, and flawless skin. Dove has attempted to change this perspective with their “Campaign for Real Beauty”. Launched in 2004, this campaign is comprised by a series of advertisements such as commercials, short-films, billboards, and many more. Dove appeals to women’s pathos in order to market to women of all ages. The company’s strong ethos allows women to feel comfortable and believe that they are truly beautiful. A majority of the campaign is aimed at young adults but also includes women fifty years and older. The creative directors Janet Kestin and Nancy Vonk strive to remind women that they are responsible for setting their own
Have you ever seen an advertisement for a product and could immediately relate to the subject or the product in that advertisement? Companies that sell products are always trying to find new and interesting ways to get buyers and get people’s attention. It has become a part of our society today to always have products being shown to them. As claimed in Elizabeth Thoman’s essay Rise of the Image Culture: Re-Imagining the American Dream, “…advertising offered instructions on how to dress, how to behave, how to appear to others in order to gain approval and avoid rejection”. This statement is true because most of the time buyers are persuaded by ads for certain products.
Since the early 2000s, Dove has invested millions of dollars into creating advertisements targeting women who lack the understanding of their everyday beauty. They have invested and partnered with Boys & Girls Club of America, Girls Scouts, and Girls Inc. in hopes of making a difference in society (Huffington) . Their goal is to empower women to understand that they are beautiful in their own individual way. That in order for females in society to find themselves attractive they must first find the beauty in themselves and gain confidence in themselves in order for the future generations to do so as well. In this article I will be arguing that Dove is making a positive difference in the female community with their advertisements. Advertisements
Dove started the campaign “ Real Beauty” in 2004 . The campaign’s objective was to change the women’s perception for their definition of beauty. The Dove Real beauty campaign is a marketing campaign established in order to widen the definition of beauty as well as provoke discussion on what our society deems beautiful.” The campaign consists of 4 stages of advertising. The first phase placed initial advertisements that focus on featuring women of all ethnic groups and shapes . The second phase uses commercial advertising on television it targets young women . The third phase uses print advertisement that targets older women on the 50+ age range. The last, phase of the campaign is a video that has been trending on social media across the world. In 2004, Dove employed researchers to conduct a survey in order to study how much women are satisfied with their own beauty . As a result 2% of women that where interviewed in the 10 countries chose the word beautiful to describe themselves, and very few chose the word gorgeous and sexy ” (Ercoff,2010). The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty was created soon after with the hope of raising that 2%statistic.
The most fashionable, sought after magazines in any local store are saturated with beautiful, thin women acting as a sexy ornament on the cover. Commercials on TV feature lean, tall women promoting unlimited things from new clothes to as simple as a toothbrush. The media presents an unrealistic body type for girls to look up to, not images we can relate to in everyday life. When walking around in the city, very few people look like the women in commercials, some thin, but nothing similar to the cat walk model. As often as we see these flawless images float across the TV screen or in magazines, it ...
In which way the seller’s chief goal is to sway their possible spectators and attempt and change their opinions, ideals and interests in the drive of resounding them that the produce they are posing has a touch that customer wants that will also be in their advantage, therefore generating false desires in the user’s mind. Dove is vexing their viewers to purchase products they wouldn’t usually buy by “creating desires that previously did not exist. ”(Dyer, 1982:6). In its place of following the outdated mantra of beauty- advertising campaigns that endorse an unachievable standard of attraction as the norm, Dove’s campaign has taken a concern that touches the lives of loads of young and old women: self-observation in the face of ads that don’t mirror the realism of women’s looks. Dove is saying that it’s all right to be ordinary, and that you’re not less than for not being what certain advertisers reflect to be flawless.
The media has increasingly portrayed unrealistic views of women in the media. Whether it be on billboards or in commercials, it is almost always the same image; a beautiful woman with an amazing body and no visible flaws. In 2004, Dove challenged those advertisements and came up with the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. It is a world-wide marketing campaign with the goal of banishing the conventional standard of beauty, and defining what ‘real beauty’ is. Despite having good intentions, I believe Dove’s real purpose is to simply broaden the definition of real beauty while making a profit.
The Dove® Campaign for Real Beauty was specifically created to provoke discussion and encourage debate. In September 2004, The Campaign for Real Beauty was launched with a much talked-about ad campaign featuring real, everyday women whose appearances are very different than the stereotypical beauty norms. The ads asked viewers to judge the women’s looks (ex. below) and invited them to ...