Dove's new 'Real Beauty' limited edition body wash is a bad message in bottles
The beauty of this world lies in the diversity of its people, not bottles. If only Dove realised that.
Known to for its sensitive campaigns, Dove ads, in the past, has been appreciated by all. But the UK branch of the company ran into trolls with its latest stunt which says "beauty comes in all shapes and sizes".
In an attempt to reflect the diverse bodies of women using the product, the company has unveiled "six differently shaped bottles of body wash", a limited-edition set, in the United Kingdom as part of its new "Real Beauty" campaign.
According to Dove UK website, "From curvaceous to slender, tall to petite, and whatever your skin colour, shoe size or hair type, beauty comes in a million different shapes and sizes. Our six exclusive bottle designs represent this diversity: just like women, we wanted to show that our iconic bottle can come in all shapes and sizes, too."
The ad that was posted on their website and YouTube page sometime in late April has caught the ire of tweetarati now and #Dove is trending.
'ise kehte hain apne pair par kulhadi maarna' - #Dove - https://t.co/fhsyBefHME .. surprised to know that it was done by #Ogilvy ! pic.twitter.com/9zZnaEb8ZK
— Shashi (@gammabowl) May 9, 2017
Girl: Bhaiyaa ! Ek Dove body wash denaa. ????Shopkeeper: Sorry aapke size waala body wash stock me nahi hai !! ????#Dove #BodyShaming ???? pic.twitter.com/kB8q4baUA8
— MalluGuy (@TheLungiGuy) May 9, 2017
DOVE'S NEW BODY DIVERSITY BOTTLES! WHAT DO YOU THINK?PLEASE RT!#dove #dovebottles #bodydiversity #elenivtv https://t.co/AqF8AQ4yYh pic.twitter.com/FkxcTYYDTE
— Eleni Vassas (@elenivtv) May 9, 2017
which dove bottle slash hercules cartoon muse are you!!! pic.twitter.com/FwSWzoGzuR
— Rebecca Caplan (@RabbiReba) May 8, 2017
@FastCompany pic.twitter.com/mXHGQ2o7wB
— Jenny Scherer (@jenny_scherer22) May 8, 2017
Ok but Dove's diversity bottles are all still white pic.twitter.com/CrEX4tNnsH
— Abbie Evans (@AbbieEvansXO) May 8, 2017
If all those memes and WhatsApp forwards are not enough to destroy your self-esteem, there are a whole lot of brands and ads which will do the body-shaming. In fact, they have been at it (breaking your confidence daily into thousand pieces) even before the culture of memes and forwards came.
In India, a whole generation of children grew up watching cartoon shows with ad breaks in which women are either mothers or "out-of-shape" married women trying hard to get their husbands' attention.
Body-shaming is, in fact, so normal in India that it has become a part of our culture. Even celebrities get into the act without even realising it. And guess what, they don't even get trolled — because that's pretty much the culture here.
But after years of slamming and categorising a woman's body to fit into that "perfect" mould (read mindset) by various brands, Joy body lotion last year came up with an ad that showed well-known comic Bharti Singh giving a strong message against body-shaming.
Hopefully, there will come a time when we will get rid of our prejudices against not just body types, skin/hair colour, but people in general. Because people are not products. And our ads and brands too will reflect that.
I just want to wash, man. Why does everything gotta be so damn difficult? https://t.co/Nonxkxe6BP
— Morgan Jerkins (@MorganJerkins) May 8, 2017