It is sad that we are shocked when we see regular people in an ad campaign. I’m not sure if more people are buying soap, shampoo and anti-wrinkle cream as a result of Dove’s ad campaign featuring real women but I know that this campaign has been in the news for at least eight months. Somebody is getting a promotion over that little fact.
I came across this post at A Weight Lifted. It really sums up my thoughts on the whole campaign quite nicely. First a fact:
“Something is really out of whack in our culture. The average American woman is somewhere between a 12 and 14 according to a 2004 survey by SizeUSA (a project sponsored by Target and JCPenney stores among others).”
Then the question that is on everyone’s mind:
“Over at Newsweek, it's the "Summer of Dove" by Susanna Schrobsdorff, who asks the question in my brain, ‘Are the women in the company's new ad campaign too big to sell beauty products, or have our minds gotten too small?’ ”
It is sad that society has degenerated to the point where appearance dictates the likelihood of success. I hope Dove does sell more products. I hope we start to see more regular people in ads. I hope this stands the ad industry on its ear.
Real life is better than fiction. I think somebody said that once before... or something like it anyway.
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