This week we saw Dove release a new design for their body wash bottles.
They released six new designs, which were meant to reflect the different shapes of women’s bodies. When we first saw this we were excited and thought it was a lovely idea. Yes a bit literal, but it was a simple way of saying ‘we love all women and no matter what shape or size, it’s what’s inside us that counts’.
Cue the Simon Cowell of social media platforms… After the whole ‘Pepsi/Kendall Jenner’ debacle we can all agree that Twitter has the power to lift or destroy a campaign. In this case it is indeed on the destruction path once again, and the tornado of negative tweets has sadly tainted our initial glee.
Dove has been accused of categorising women. Making them feel self-conscious. Some people seemed genuinely confused as to whether they were supposed to buy the bottle that resembled their body shape (no ladies the cashier isn’t going to call security if you try to buy the slender bottle over the pear shaped one which holds a more accurate likeliness to your derriere).
They kicked off the new bottles by releasing a video online. Their line ‘Real Beauty Breaks Moulds’ appears as the new bottles are being made… into new moulds. Kind of makes you roll your eyes, it’s too literal and there’s nothing clever about it.
But this has us asking a broader question – is Dove really the enemy here? Yes they’ve managed to offend the whole of the Twitter-sphere but they’re brave enough to address these issues. While the rest of the beauty world uses pristine, goddess-like models Dove will always use ‘real women’. We salute Dove as they constantly bring us refreshing and genuine campaigns that make us explode with Girl Power.
So slagging off one of the only beauty brands that actually celebrate real women and vowing never to buy Dove body wash seems a bit dramatic. Instead of attacking Dove, why don’t we let this one slide? Ok they created a series of bottles that remind women of their insecurities but it doesn’t mean you have to buy one, I would be surprised if you could even find them in your local Boots. So let’s not put them in the same box as the likes of Protein World, at least they are recognising we are all different – and realistically we all know nobody will ever be as ‘beach body ready’ as that model in the yellow bikini.
So Dove you may have messed up a little, but we still love you!