Dove's Real beauty campaign, once lauded as a gold-star example of brand marketing with purpose, has been getting less rosy reactions of late, as people have seemed to tire of the concept. But has Funny or Die, the irreverent US comedy site actually done Unilever, owner of the Dove brand, a huge favour?
The parody of Dove’s “Choose Beautiful” – the campaign which sees women confronted with the option of taking a door labelled ‘Beautiful’ and another, ‘Average’ - almost gives the huge backlash against the ad a form of closure.
There is the old adage that a parody is a true mark of success and the creation of 'Dove #SizeMatters – Men Make A Choice' is flattery, but we doubt that very much.
Dove #SizeMatters – Men Make A Choice shows two doors - one with the sign ‘average dick,’ the other: ‘big dick’. In two and a half minutes viewers are treated to a roll call of over-confident comments, entirely conflicting with the rather forced and polarising self-conscious moments seen on the Dove original.
One man jokes: “I got a big schlong. What can I say? I’m surprised I even fit through the door.” Out of the 10 men featured, nine walk through the ‘big dick’ door (although one of those is a boy who is pushed through by his dad). One man walks through the ‘average door’ and later admits that he regrets it.
The parody couldn’t be timelier. Dove has faced an incredible backlash for “Choose Beautiful,” the latest iteration of its successful “Movement for Self-Esteem,” which was called “Campaign for Real Beauty” until 2010.
“(Dove) has mastered the art of passing off somewhat passive-aggressive and patronising advertising as super-empowering, ultra PR-able social commentary,” said Arwa Mahdawi, partner at Cummins & Partners, in New York, via an op-ed on the Guardian.
Teressa Iezzi, editor of Co.Create was equally critical in a blog piece she wrote: “Maybe Dove needs to step back and stop trying to top itself, and reassess how the message behind Real Beauty can best be conveyed, in a way that's more...real.”
Buzzfeed was blatant: “The soap manufacturer wants to tell us how we feel about ourselves. And then fix it for us. With soap.”
In the last decade, Dove sales are reported to have more than doubled: from US$2.5 billion to US$4 billion. Previous ads in the series include the 2005 “Tested on Real Curves” and the 2013 “Real Beauty Sketches” video, which is thought to be the most viral ad ever.
By contrast, ‘Dove #SizeMatters – Men Make A Choice’ has racked up some 50,000 plays on YouTube since launch last Tuesday, but has more likely spread wider from the Funny or Die home site.
Unilever didn't respond this morning.