Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty

Most girls and women these days are extremely concerned about how they look. Younger girls see the thin models and actresses and wish they could look just like them. Society has warped the appearance of what a young, healthy girl should look like. Thin models and actresses aren’t what Dove wants girls to be looking to for self-esteem. Dove’s campaign for “Real Beauty” was launched in 2004 and is about finding self-confidence through beauty. Most girls can easily find something about their body that they aren’t happy about, whether it be hair color, freckles, or just thinking she is ugly. The hard part is trying to convince them that they are beautiful. Luckily our generation of young girls have advocates for them.   

            An advertisement by Dove that aired in 2006 called “TrueColors” shows face shots of girls. Words come up on the screen while the face shots filter through. Some of the words are things like “hates her freckles,” thinks she’s ugly,” and “wishes she were blonde.” The song “True Colors” by Cyndi Lauper, plays while we look at the young girls who wish they looked different. This “Real Beauty” campaign ad could be successful because of its appeal to ethos, logos, and pathos.

            By showing us these girls and stating how they feel about themselves this video uses pathos in a good way. They want to make us feel for these girls and remind us that some of us might feel the same way about ourselves. This ad reaches out to young girls who feel the same way as the ones shown in the advertisement. The aesthetics of the commercial further contribute to the commercial’s pathos. By having a choir of young girls singing in the background it complements the young girls featured on this video.  The association of such adorable images of a girl with red hair and the words,  “hates her freckles” along with a girl standing in a school hallway with the words “thinks she’s ugly” produces quite a moving scenario. Also, the girls are looking straight into the camera, directly at the person who is watching the video. The camera also zooms in on most of the girls faces. This makes for an emotional connection for the viewer.

            The advertisement also uses logos. This commercial claims that if the self-esteem fund reaches out to girls who have self-esteem issues or are insecure, then those young girls will change their minds and learn to accept themselves for who they are. It is logical that Dove would  request its audience to help to change the minds of the young women of our generation. Thus Dove proposes a solution to help girls “see how beautiful she really is”.

            The commercial gives Dove a strong corporate ethos, because Dove is trying to represent itself as an ethical company that takes accountability for the image it projects to vulnerable young girls. All young girls are stunning and distinctive in their own way.

            Is this “True Colors” ad really going to help boost young girls self-esteem?  According to the article “Dove Campaign for Real Beauty Case Study,” by Melinda Bradbeck and Erin Evans, published on March 5, 2007, they believe that creating an ad with young girls and their real “problems” will pull in the audience. Even though through this ad Dove is still trying to sell a product, it doesn’t mean that these kinds of advertisements aren’t trying to show something that really does exist in our world. It’s creating a positive viewpoint for young girls, helping them see the beautiful things about them, not their flaws. Dove is trying to change the “perfect body” image for young girls. They want girls to know that they are beautiful no matter their race, body type, hair color, or ethnicity. They want young girls to be confident in themselves and see that they truly are beautiful.