Wall Street Journal advertising columnist Suzanne Vranica poses the question in her April 10th column, “Can Dove promote a cause and sell soap?”
I can answer that question in two words: Drink responsibly.
But exercising my blogger’s prerogative to say more, I will.
When Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty debuted in 2004, it was an instant hit. It generated water cooler buzz, skyrocketed on YouTube and landed loads of free publicity on shows like Entertainment Tonight and the Today Show.
But the corporate bean counters apparently wondered if all the attention actually translated to the bottom line since there were no product mentions in the campaign itself. So they’ve launched a new Website that houses their Campaign for Real Beauty message and program, but it is now surrounded by product mentions.
C’mon on. I don’t need to see a picture of a bar of soap to know that this is the product Dove wants me to buy. A campaign that focuses on peeling back the layers of what society has labeled as beautiful to reveal the natural beauty that we are all born with absolutely screams “SOAP” to me! Evidently the boardroom thinks consumers need to be more obviously hit over the head to get the advertising message. And perhaps they are right.
I must give credit to Dove, however, for also allowing their Website to be an open forum for discussion on topics related to women and beauty. One of their own bloggers questions the negative messages sent by all the advertising that accompanies daytime television serials. She must be too young to remember the origin of “Soap Operas.”
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