http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U (here's the link if you don't see it playing below)
Dove for a while has been talking about real women and real beauty. In most of their advertisements globally, be it either print or television, they have successfully represented the majority of women ie, the non model ordinary looking, overweight, freckled, dark, black, anorexic.They have remained true to their idea of 'real inner beauty'.
But- why not in India? Out here Dove ads display beautiful milky white clear skinned models with flawlessly airbrushed faces. Take the current Dove Shampoo tv commercial for example, or the current print ads that contain testimonials of 'real' women in India who just ALL happen to be 'fair and lovely' as well? The farthermost they have gone is putting a pair of spectacles on one of their models, and that's as close to 'real' as they seem to get. These pale photo- shopped faces do not represent even a fraction of women in India. Not even close. Just the cream of the crop. Dusky can still be beautiful.Will they ever have the guts to show a fat and dark south Indian woman? Ever? Let's see for ourselves:
Dove's international 'Real beauty' campaign:
Dove India's 'Real beauty' campaign:
See the difference? So why the double standards? Is it because India is still obsessed with the notion of fair= beautiful? I don't think so. I think the Indian audience is slowly evolving. And so should Dove in their advertising. Honestly right now Dove's perception of beauty in India is quite distorted.
advertising=unreal. and most advertising here is 'good-looking' (attempt) versus 'hard-working'.
ReplyDeleteAdvertisers give people want they want to see. They aren't here to challenge, educate and enlighten.. that's a risk that might not end up in sales. It's business unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is the market research done for Dove India indicated they aren't ready for the same radical campaign done in western countries.
Yup, you're right. Sadly here ads happen based on MR stats and not on brand values. So no diff between Dove and a Fair n Lovely.
ReplyDeletedidn't notice it till now. but you're right. forget brand values, even if we consider it at the product level, dove is still so much more than a fairness cream. sad that they're behaving like one.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to know that the same company that owns Dove owns Lynx men's anti-perspirant cologne, which has the opposite view on women. Many Lynx ads are very sexist towards women
ReplyDeletetrue...Levers into everything! :D
ReplyDeletealso they own the fair & lovely
ReplyDeleteBeauty might not have an age limit but it sure as hell has a best before date
ReplyDelete