YOU are your own worst critic!

Glamour, a well-known fashion magazine, did an exclusive survey on 300 young females and reported that "97% of women will be cruel to their own bodies." In addition, females would have an average of 13 negative thoughts regarding their own image. Dove released an article regarding their new campaign and stated “that only 2% of women around the world would describe themselves as beautiful.” Therefore, Dove decided to launch its own social mission called “The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.”

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has been in existence since 2004 and on April 14, 2013, Dove released a Youtube video called “Dove Real Beauty Sketches.” The video has over 22 million views. 

In the video, there is a man named Gil Zamora, who worked for the FBI as a trained Forensic Artist. Dove brought in a few ladies to describe to Zamora what they looked like. Zamora was told that he could not look at anyone who entered the room until he completed his sketches. Each woman described herself in a harsh manner and had something negative to say about her own image. The ladies were told to get to know the other women who participated in this activity. In addition, men were also involved but only for describing the women they had met. Every individual who went in to describe to Zamora what the other women looked like gave a thoughtful and beautiful description of each woman. At the end, Zamora compared the drawings of the women’s description of themselves to the ones the others described. It turns out many women judge and describe themselves too harshly but to the rest of the world they are beautiful. 

This Youtube video was brilliant and well thought out. One of the top comment was the viewer forgetting that Dove was a soap company. The video was not about marketing their product or getting a discount on a service. It was about the world we live in consistently telling females that they do not look beautiful. Dove created such a personal, touching, and inspirational campaign about true beauty, therefore, creating a close relationship with its targeted audience and bringing in many loyal customers to its business. The campaign in general has boasted its reputation of accepting women for who they are and how they look. 

Dove made its viewers forget the company was a business, and instead had them focus on its social mission. This is extremely hard to do. With the Nike commercial, we knew the ad was Nike but with Dove, many people forgot that a business produced this powerful message. Dove made the video relatable by having ordinary women participate who ranged in age from younger to older and who were not models or celebrities. This also targeted different age groups. The vibe of the commercial was calm, warm, and thoughtful. It made the viewers feel comfortable and at ease. 

Dove did an amazing job incorporating its brand into a very powerful message. It made participates and viewers realize that they are their own worst critics. Because of its strong relatable message, the Dove corporation boasted its image as a corporation that is truly there for women around the world.