August 2nd, 2005
All sorts of undeserving writers go on to greatness (you know about whom I’m talking), but when will someone give Seth Stevenson the ample rewards he deserves? Stevenson does Slate‘s ad report card, consistently the magazine’s best feature. Today he has a piece on the new Dove campaign. Sample genius:
The [Dove web]site also has a link where you can donate money to Dove’s “self-esteem fund” for young girls.
If the women in these ads lacked self-esteem, they wouldn’t be up on a billboard in their skivvies. Hey, good for them. I even have a favorite Dove chick: Stacy (the student). She’s the one who poses with her backside to the camera, showing off her ample bottom. I see Stacy every day—she’s on the bus stop shelter next to my house. “Check out this fiiiiiiiine bedonkadonk,” she seems to say to me, grinning slyly over her shoulder. I think I may have a crush on her. But I’ve said too much already. . . .
The interesting thing here is the risky bet Dove is making. Beauty-product marketing has almost always been aspirational: I wish I could look like her … perhaps if I buy this lip gloss, I will! But Dove takes a wildly different approach: That chick in the ad sort of looks like me, and yet she seems really happy and confident … perhaps if I buy this Dove Firming Cream, I’ll stop hating myself! . . .
But there’s a dirty little secret here. Because, in the end, you simply can’t sell a beauty product without somehow playing on women’s insecurities. If women thought they looked perfect—just the way they are—why would they buy anything?
Out of the park.
epinionated2005@gmail.com August 3, 2005 at 6:35 pm
Concur. Absolutely outstanding piece of work.