Dove Evolution Commercial

Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign has created quite a buzz in television and the internet.  I recently just saw a commercial (called Dove’s “Evolution” Commercial) in which Dove revealed the entire process of makeup, lighting, digital retouching, etc. of a model to the viewer in a time speed video.  The commercial starts with an average-looking girl, pretty but not model-pretty, being brought onto a set for a photo shoot; and then the lighting changes.  The lights brighten up as if to show that this is the truth of the women that you see on the billboards, magazines, advertising to you makeup, beer, anything and everything.  The girl initially has oily skin, with lots of freckles, some minor blemishes, and in a matter of seconds (the video is sped up) the blemishes are covered and her skin looks flawless.  More and more makeup is put on, her hair is straightened and curled, and she looks incredibly different.  As if that weren’t enough already, the photo is shot and then Photoshop increases the size of her eyes, changes her proportions making her looks thinner and her neck longer, and at the end of the commercial her face as it is after the manipulation is put onto a billboard at the very end.  It proves that Dove is a good listener and is high on the level of integration, focusing on a long-term relationship with the consumer.  The company also conveys the idea that it is socially responsible in that it is changing the perception of real females.

Although blatantly a marketing strategy, the company makes it seem as though it is genuinely caring about the self-esteem of young girls and women in the world.

The appeal used in this commercial is satisfying curiosity. Many people do not know the extent it takes to make a models look the way they do on advertisements - the makeup, the lighting, the image manipulation, etc.  It also nurtures and guides the viewer into believing that Dove is a supporter of natural beauty and will uncover the shams of other beauty companies (Despite Dove allegedly photoshopping their 'Real Beauty' models and despite the fact that they sell skin lightening cream to women in Asian countries).  





Characteristics of the satisfying curiosity appeal in general are grabbing the viewers' attention and constructing an audience.  It grabs the viewer's attention through viral YouTube videos and making it styled as a short film that is sped up until the very end when the image of the 'more attractive' girl is shown on the billboard.  In addition, this advertisement was on many websites and was spread virally over the Internet. Using the internet for this commercial easily constructed and targeted an audience of younger people, and since it is a beauty company using a young women to advertise their product, it is obviously targeted towards females.