Isn’t it just that we all hate this type of advertising?
Posted on 26. May, 2011 by Jonathan Cherry in Advertising
Playing the race card
The American media / public are apparently getting hot and bothered over this Dove print ad – that according to some commentators could possible be communicating that this skin cream will magically transform a black woman into a Latino woman and then, after continued use, finally to a white woman.
Now the overall racial make up of Madison Avenue is in question and the public are demanding blood.
But isn’t it just a case of a small spark lighting a bush fire that is primed for ignition. Aren’t we all just a little sick and tired of being stereotyped and convinced that we need to buy the crap that these consumer machines feed us like blind zombies? Any trigger will do.
The industry needs to realise that what people want is authenticity and transparency. In other words, what’s hot right now is something that the global advertising industry is not.
More: Dove Ad Casts Spotlight On Madison Avenue Racism – Huffington Post
Update: Unilever South Africa sent us this in response to this post:
“We believe that real beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, colors and ages and are committed to featuring realistic and attainable images of beauty in all our advertising. We are also dedicated to educating and encouraging all women and girls to build a positive relationship with beauty, to help raise self-esteem and to enable them to realize their full potential.
The ad is intended to illustrate the benefits of using Dove VisibleCare Body Wash, by making skin visibly more beautiful in just one week. All three women are intended to demonstrate the “after” product benefit. We do not condone any activity or imagery that intentionally insults any audience.”
2 Responses to “Isn’t it just that we all hate this type of advertising?”
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Anneleigh
26. May, 2011
Having worked on the brand management side of several large global and local manufacturers I totally agree with the comment about authenticity & transparency – consumers have been moving strongly in this direction for 5 years already but most large brand houses (no pun intended) are still taking the blinkered view of artificially creating stories around their brands instead of understanding their brands clearly and simply telling the stories that are innate in strong brands so that consumers can make informed choices. “Authentic branding” is my current pet idea and I think if it doesn’t catch on in the industry soon, consumers will soon start making different choices.
Ant
27. May, 2011
Agree. A shame coming from Dove as they were part of the move towards a more honest approach to advertising.
This looks like a case of ticking all the boxes.
My fear locally and in the rest of Africa is that people look at this growing market as an easy target for formulaic advertising that is based on the old tick box strategy that on a marketing directors profile means: “I’ve done my job”
The more marketers respect people, the greater the response will be.