In 2004, Unilever’s skincare brand Dove was in fear of decline. Dove’s most valuable product, the Dove beauty bar, was primarily used by the elderly. Dove was gradually becoming irrelevant as a brand; sales began to decline in England in 2003. Dove was lost in the marketplace. Like many of its competitors, it was selling exceptionally standardized beauty promises.

Women did desire beauty, but they questioned its worth. They hated the social expectations of beauty featured by supermodels in Magazines or on TV. As women began to enter the male-dominated spheres, the mass media excessively controlled by the males, embraced the look of excessively standardised thin, fair, flawless women as a norm. It was selling a drug, a cultural fixation on beauty standards, not only an obsession with female beauty but an obsession with female obedience. Their body became the prison which was not their home before.

The Campaign-

StrategyOne an applied research firm was hired by Dove in conjunction with Dr. Nancy Etcoff, Massachusetts General Hospital- Harvard University and with consultation by Dr Susie Orbach of the London School of Economics to study what beauty means to women across the developed world. The study drew 3,200 women samples aged 18-64 from the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Italy, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina and Japan between February 27, 2004, and March 26, 2004. Only 2% of the women choose to describe them as beautiful. Around 75% of women rate their beauty as average, and around 50% feel overweight. It also showed that almost half of the respondents in the US, Great Britain, and Canada, strongly agreed that ‘when I feel less beautiful, I feel worse about myself in general’. The study indicated that women increasingly believe that beauty and physical attractiveness are socially mandated.

Dove then made a decision that would stir up a debate surrounding women’s beauty and would become emblematic of the ongoing struggle for women's emancipation. In an attempt to increase the desirability of its product among the younger public, it adopted the trick of cause marketing. The younger population tend to be a more idealistic and socially conscious group, they believe change is possible. Women in particular are more likely to purchase a brand they perceive are doing socially good. It started a cause marketing campaign ‘The Campaign for Real Beauty’. 

Dove shocked everyone when it unveiled its first campaign featuring eight real women dressed only in their intimate clothing. The ad was different in the sense that instead of selling a product it was selling an idea. An idea that would change the discussion surrounding the beauty stereotypes. It asked everyone to define beauty which is inclusive and diverse. Instead of selling products to mask imperfection, it tried to sell the products to enhance real beauty. This simple step positioned the brand from a beauty brand to a personal care brand. While simultaneously positioning other beauty brands as bad for promoting extraordinary standards. The campaign was successful within six months and Dove earned 2.3% of the market share in the hand and body lotion category.

Following the initial success of the campaign dove planned to invite women to the discourse. A new set of ads featuring women supposedly having a flaw, challenging women to check a box with positive or negative attributes e.g. fat or fab, wrinkled or wonderful. This inspired the ancient and the most powerful form of advertising- word of mouth. Women began voluntarily entering blogs and talking with friends and the community. It drew significant media attention inciting PR with stories appearing continuously in thousands of news sources.

The ads pushed consumers to question their own beliefs viewers were directed to the site to cast their votes. This voting was tracked and displayed on the website. The brand and its messages were a major talking point among women and some men. With message boards and blogs flooded with opinions. 
 Dove next continued with its campaign with the launch of hair care products. Keeping in mind its broad target audience of women of all ages. Dove decided to work with TV. The campaign was well received but did not create the initial buzz of the first two campaigns. Although sales figures were not released, Dove was reportedly pleased with the result in numbers as well as public debate. Next Dove picked Superbowl as an unlikely event to promote the same idea among little girls. Superbowl is donned with beer ads and scantily clad cheerleaders. The ‘Little Girl's Spot features a song, True Colors sung by a group of Girl Scouts. Elementary to high school-aged girls who ‘hate her freckles’ “afraid she is fat”, “wishes she were blond” and “think she’s ugly” are shown. Dove followed by introducing the Dove Self-Esteem Fund and mother-daughter workshops were developed to tackle consumer frustration with Dove’s media activity without any real-world implications. These workshops put a face to the Vague fund.

Dove went on to unveil other viral videos like Evolution, Onslaught and Amy, Pro-Age, Go-Fresh, and Under Pressure. Now two decades later artificial intelligence permeates all sectors of life and business. Dove is committed to never using digital distortion or AI-generated content. In 2023 Dove delivered $6 billion in turnover and Dove's self-esteem project reached over 100 million young lives with body confidence and education.

Critiques of the Real Beauty Campaign-

In the context of body image, Leon Festinger argues that people will compare themselves to others and pictures where they perceive realistic chances of achieving that goal. Those who are considered similar are assimilated to the self. Dove’s real beauty campaign in the context of Social Comparison Theory can be analyzed as – real women are considered to be similar triggering a process of positive assimilation. This would result in women perceiving a psychological closeness in self-evaluation with the subject who is attractive compared to the subject who is less attractive. ‘Real women’ in Dove’s campaign have desirable traits thereby having a positive effect on women’s self-appraisal.

Other than just making women feel good Dove has repositioned itself as a personal care brand. Meanwhile inculcating an attitude towards a cause and step towards the goal of self-appraisal and body positivity. Shifting the focus of outside appearance towards more focus on the inner beauty and confidence. Thus, changing the definition of idealized self from one centered around beauty standards to one caricatured around values.

However, the ‘Real Beauty’ campaign also opens up the scope for young adolescent girls to compare themselves to ‘Real Women’. Some might still fall short in comparison; while observing an average-sized model they might be reminded of the thin model; real women are another parameter to fail in comparison and become more self-conscious. Thus, having more negative impact than the prospected positive impact. Many self-esteem initiatives involve not being engaged in comparison with any sort of character in television or magazines.

Moreover, the parent company of Dove is Unilever, which has other beauty brands like Fair & Lovely, and Axe. These products have a completely contradictory brand position to Dove. Thus, to an audience, these attempts at body positivity might appear as social action propelled on the ideals of ends justify means. The product Fair & Lovely which is specifically for darker-skinned women, goes completely against Dove’s mission of self-acceptance and body positivity. This awareness will evoke uncomfortable feelings among consumers and position the company Unilever as hypocritical.

Although the campaign had faced many criticisms and the controversy around Unilever is unfading. The discussion started by Dove continues two decades later and is a step in the right direction. Dove continues its commitment to the promotion of self-acceptance and body positivity.