Dove Goes Social to Support Positive Self Esteem for Women

Dove Encourages Women to Ignore Negative Ads

Got muffin top? Maybe a pimple? We all find things we don’t like about our bodies and sometimes we let these small things affect our self-esteem and how we feel about ourselves.   That’s a shame, because none of us are perfect.  But in an error of  magazine covers featuring gorgeous celebrities photo shopped and airbrushed to perfection, we can be very hard on ourselves.  Many advertisements are designed to specifically target our insecurities.  They tell us we need cream for our cellulite.  Girdles like armor to tighten our waistlines and many more beauty additives. That’s why I am glad to see Dove re-launching their Ad Makeover campaign in 19 countries in celebration of International Women’s Day.   You might remember that campaign as the “Real Beauty Campaign.”  That campaign featured women of all shapes, sizes and ethnicity.  The cool thing about this campaign is that their is a strong social media component to this round of the advertising campaign.   Dove has developed a  them to send positive messages to other women through a Facebook application. Via the Facebook app, women will be able to socially support each other and message each other.  Why might this be helpful? 

Sadly, only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful.  We need to turn that around.   A Dove global study found that 80% of women agree that every woman has something about her that is beautiful, but do most women do not see their own beauty.  We are all so hard on ourselves.  Many we need to be a bit more supportive.    If you could write an advertisement to send some positive thoughts about self image, what would it be?

I used the Facebook app to share this message, “ The perfect bum is the one you’re sitting one.”  If you’re interested in raising your voice socially to send positive messages about ” Real Beauty”, check out the Dove Facebook app or Tweet @Dove using the hashtag #admakeover to show support for the campaign.  I already sent my Tweet.  As Linda McCartney said “The Light Comes from Within.” Real Beauty is inside, the outside , well that’s just the veneer.