Comments on: Another insulting Dove ad: the Dove Beauty Patch

By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 19:26:33 +0000

Hi Peachy – a matter of interpretation. You’re not alone: many other women did like this campaign. I happen to agree with the AdAge observation (quoted in the post) that Dove is not empowering women, they’re calling us gullible. Calling me gullible while trying to sell me their anti-wrinkle, anti-aging, anti-cellulite miracle beauty products – and at the same time telling me I’m beautiful just exactly the way I am – is reeeeeeally offensive to me. I agree – women should have the self-confidence we need to not even “need” these insulting Dove ads.

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By: Hibernation Now

Hibernation Now — Sun, 09 Nov 2014 19:13:26 +0000

Don’t be hating. Don’t be shouting. (And you KNOW ME) I fell for it and (cringe) waiting for attack, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. I took it as empowering women to be themselves, that they didn’t need cosmetics or anything else to make them their beautiful selves. Just an ego boost. Just confidence. We all can use it once in awhile. Why all the hatred. why isn’t it a good thing to learn that you, are beautiful, inside and out. Can’t we keep it simple? (Guess not.) From, Peachy

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By: Sophie

Sophie — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 12:38:49 +0000

So you all rather Dove use the stereotypical, size zero, perfect models in their ads?

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By: 5Social

5Social — Tue, 06 May 2014 15:29:31 +0000

[…] di fondo: l’Unilever, l’azienda produttrice della Dove, vuole solo vendere i propri prodotti (The Ethical Nag). Above Average ha criticato lo spot pubblicandone una parodia in rete: il video mostra una […]

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Thu, 01 May 2014 12:47:39 +0000

In reply to jaclyn1973.

Thanks for sharing your perspective Jaclyn. If Dove were performing this community service while selling widgets, it wouldn’t matter, but trying to sell women their anti-aging, anti-wrinkle, anti-cellulite beauty products all while claiming that we’re already beautiful enough is what galls so many of us.

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By: jaclyn1973

jaclyn1973 — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 16:37:45 +0000

I think people are over reacting. In regards to the ad where the models were size 6 and 8 but still beautiful. Ok, but since they did have size 6 and 8, personally I still consider that progress. They made money off of it? So what? Maybe it was time for the advertising people to realize that even women who are so huge as to be a size 6 or 8 also spend money. Maybe eventually they will even progress to show a size 10. Can you imagine, a double digit size model! I wouldn’t care if she was the most beautiful woman in the world, it would still be a step closer to what REAL woman look like.
As for the patch, they had a point to make and they made it. I think they had already made that point with the sketches, though. Most women DO feel unattractive. Yes, we are told it’s the inside that matters, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, etc etc. We are told to be more confident, act more confident. We are told all of those clichés. We know it, but we don’t KNOW it. I think the patch gives an excellent example that will help some women KNOW. Personally, I thought the sketches did a better job of helping us KNOW.
Did it cause me to start buying Dove products? Nope, not at all. Still don’t have any Dove products. But, the ads did strike a note with me and did cause me to THINK. I think that’s a good thing. If they made money at the same time, who cares?

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By: Haute Talk

Haute Talk — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 20:53:27 +0000

[…] was a lot of controversy with the real Dove campaign, many people actually found it insulting. We assume that’s how the creative genius for this spoof came about. In this video, a woman […]

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By: We Report

We Report — Tue, 22 Apr 2014 14:24:45 +0000

[…] viewers found the ad inspiring, but others found it insulting, “garbage” and […]

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 02:18:26 +0000

In reply to Tamica Sears.

Thanks for sharing your perspective here, Tamica. I think the part of the ad that made the women think the patch would make them prettier was the part where they actually called it a “beauty patch”. That’s pretty galling.

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By: Tamica Sears

Tamica Sears — Sat, 19 Apr 2014 00:44:24 +0000

I thought that I wasn’t going to like the ad after reading this. I’m thinking “what kind of idiot think a patch will make them prettier?!?” But they didn’t say that they would get prettier. It said that it would enhance their perception of themselves. There are literally pills for that. So no, I don’t think that it was mean of Dove or stupid of the women. I think that it was a touching ad that says that you don’t need anything to make you feel beautiful. Yes, Dove sells items to help women feel beautiful. But if you haven’t noticed, women who think that they are drop dead gorgeous go out of their way to stay that way and spend a few buck on product. Good idea Dove. Rather than tell women that they look like a mack truck hit their face and they need your products to fix it, tell them that they are beautiful, as they are, and your products help maintain and enhance that beauty. I think that is a much better message and definitely one that I can stand behind.

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By: Jacques Boutard

Jacques Boutard — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 12:45:51 +0000

In reply to Carolyn Thomas.

Bonjour Carolyn. I doubt many French women would have watched it – not the ones I know, in any case, and not long enough to laugh at it.

As for the length of the ad, anything exceeding 30 seconds seems to me unlikely to appear on French TV (though I stopped watching it some years ago). Perhaps on Youtube or such? But you can erase those after a few seconds, can’t you?

Now I wouldn’t risk any comment on the beauty of French women, as it might be perceived as an indirect one on others. But American women (used to) look fine to me. Besides, as my mother used to say: “La beauté, cela ne se mange pas en salade!”

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