Seiko Champion

In a previous post, I spoke about today’s increased social networking being a force on brands to “walk the talk”, given that a large and increasing percentage of any consumers considering your brand will discuss it online, provide and listen to feedback both good and bad, and take that inter-personal feedback a lot more seriously than your ads.

Here’s an interesting example that’s been talked about since early last month, and is now getting repeat airing over at AdAge.

Many of you will have heard of and/or seen the Dove “anti beauty industry” ads during the past few years. First were the award-winning ones in their “campaign for real beauty” series defining beauty as seen in regular women, not the supermodel type normally gracing consumer ads. Then came the anti-PhotoShop “Evolution” spots. More recent was the “Onslaught” viral video, created by Ogilvy & Mather of Toronto, with its “talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does” message.



There is a small problem however, that has caught Dove in an unexpected cross-fire of criticism. The brand is owned by Unilever, which also produces Axe, Slim-Fast and other products which are perceived to eagerly buy into and support the whole “normal is not good looking enough” philosophy and advertising enshrined in grocery-checkout magazines.

Bob Garfield, AdAge, 8/October/2007 … A worthy cause, a brilliant strategy, a flawless video. It all amounts to something very close to perfection. So, yes, absolutely, four stars.

Damn, if it just weren’t for the nagging hypocrisy of it all.

Viewed close up, the “Campaign for Real Beauty” is precisely the unassailable defense of human values it purports to be. But to pull back is to reveal. Dove is a brand from Unilever, which isn’t so enlightened when it comes to Axe/Lynx — whose ads portray women as slinky sex toys — and Slim-Fast, which encourages exactly the kind of yo-yo dieting so vividly dramatized in “Onslaught.”

As for Ogilvy, well — in a bit of horrifying/delicious irony — it is actually the U.S. agency for the Barbie doll.

Oops. …

Social networking (okay, Web 2.0 if you really want to use an over-extended and inaccurate buzzword ) has allowed this meme to spread and gain momentum.

In this particular case, I doubt it will build up enough of a ruckus to do any serious damage. This is in part because of the brand history built up with the prior “real beauty” campaign, and in part because there is a valid “feel good” message to the video. And the real lesson, and unfortunate truth, is that they are simply out to sell more product, and as one women states well:

no matter what we’re out here saying – this film is circulating like wildfire and I didn’t have Dove on my mind yesterday. A viral video coup if there ever was one.

Lesson 1 – Web 2.0 is social networking, and references from your consumer’s network of contacts matter more to them than your ads, you have to “live the brand” or risk consumer feedback undermining anything you do.

Lesson 2 – There still is (almost) no such thing as bad publicity.

Lesson 3 – Content is king. Put something out there that makes people go “wow”, whether viral or not, and you will get eyeballs.

Lesson 4 – Truly original and thought-provoking messages can still (sometimes) cut through.