On Monday, Dove released its follow up to its first internet film “Evolution”, arguably the most successful commercial viral video of all time.
The new video created by Ogilvy Toronto titled “Onslaught”, features a young girl being bombarded by images of impossible to obtain beauty.
The video is a commentary on the imagery used by the beauty industry to market their products, and their effects on young women.
Dove: Onslaught
The campaign encourages parents to “talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does” and directs girls and their parents to the www.campaignforrealbeauty.com website. The website directs girls into its Girls Only Interactive Self Esteem Zone and directs mothers and mentors into their own section of Interactive Self Esteem Builders.
The video ends on a logo for the Dove Self Esteem fund, and the web page offers more information about the fund and encourages visitors to make a donation.
The Dove Self Esteem Fund was developed to help free the next generation from self-limiting beauty stereotypes. Committed to reaching 5 million young women by the end of 2010, the Dove Self-Esteem Fund invites you to play a role in supporting and promoting a wider definition of beauty.
Being Authentic
One thing you will not see in the video or on the web page are Dove products. Dove is careful to avoid selling its products at the same time they are criticizing their own industry. This is important, because Dove sells essentially the same products as its competitors, and has used this same type of “ideal beauty” advertising in the past, so Dove has to work hard to position itself as an authentic socially conscious alternative.
This video also shows Dove and Ogilvy’s understanding that the best viral videos should not act as product brochures or commercials. The videos are offering the problem, and Dove and their Campaign For Beauty are offering the solution.
I’m a big fan of the new Dove campaign, and their current style of self reflexive socially conscious marketing. Only time will tell if Dove truly stands behind this new ideal or if they will return to the typical “impossible to obtain beauty” style of beauty marketing once this campaign has run its course. I for one tip my hat to Dove’s latest vision and hope they stay the course.
For those of you who haven’t seen Dove’s first internet film “Evolution”, here it is.
Dove: Evolution
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Obviously big companies have the luxury of big budgets, anyone know how much this video cost to produce? I’ve heard agencies are looking at minimum of $100,000 upwards to $250,000 to produce a video segment as online video continues to be the rage these days…
Wish I had that sort of budget and media contacts to leverage our viral videos as we’d have at least 10 million views rather only 1.25 million views currently..
We are working on a video contest for things like this because there are a lot of creative people in the world with spare time. Maybe you can do something like that LonelyBloggers.
Academically speaking, by splitting beauty into two categories; “evolution beauty” and “real beauty” - the makers of Dove are not actually doing anything to break down barriers. What they’re essentially saying is that most people don’t fit into “that” category of beauty, but that they fit into “this” category of beauty; they’ve created a whole new category of “beauty”!
Also, if you knew what other products Unilever, the makers of Dove were pushing, you’d see right through their “campaign” (i.e. AXE Deodorant Body Spray). Do you still think they care about “real beauty”?
