Rhetorical Analysis Of Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty

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

Dove is asking the viewers to ask themselves, how they would answer. By showing how these women answer, Dove is imploring the viewer to not make the same assumptions about themself. Be strong and confident; look at yourself with gentle eyes. Even though their products are geared towards women, the emotions you feel during this short-film are far from that. The strongest point of pathos would come at the very end when the final sketches are shown to the women. Using a small amount of women when describing themselves, allows the setting to have an intimate feel. Not only do you feel the raw emotion from the women as they see the side-by-side sketches, but the music also plays a big part in the reveal. There is silence as the women study the two sketches and the music is the focal point. This was a technique similar to using white space in design, using silence to speak volumes. This let the realization sink in and the audience is able to feel what the women feel. Some had tears in their eyes as they began to realize how others described them. There was an obvious difference in the drawings and descriptions that the other person gave. This hit the main point of the production, you are more beautiful than you think. By using the word “you” in this allows the viewer to feel that this campaign is aimed towards them. This was a huge strategy used by Dove to reach the largest audience

This campaign may have a reverse effect on these types of women. By hearing the responses from the women, they may feel that being confident is not something that is considered normal. This would be a constraint that this campaign and specific short-film could give. Another constraint would be men. Although Dove is a company that aims towards women, there are men that struggle with the same self-esteem problems that could also benefit from this same mission. By letting know that not only women, but also humans as a whole, should believe they are beautiful could change the impact of the message. The last thing that could pose a problem is the fact that the reveal, one picture is supposed to represent unattractiveness and one is representing beauty. You hear comments from the women mentioning crow’s feet or circles under their eyes weren’t in the second picture. So do these tiny things change the definition of beauty? Is the youthful looking picture supposed to be the only way to achieve this? In today’s society, we are taught that beauty is within certain constraints and this is something that is around us every day. Beauty and perfection surrounds us in so many aspects of life on a daily basis and this is what is making women so self-conscious. Society is measuring peoples worth by their outside appearance instead if their inner thoughts