Dove Real BeautyYear: 2004
The Concept: It all started with a little research. According to Unilever Brand Director Jennifer Bremner, Dove conducted a global study in 2004, which showed that 81 percent of American women thought that "the media and advertising set an unrealistic standard of beauty."
This inspired the brand to launch what would become one of the decade's most recognizable ad campaigns. "We pioneered the use of attainable images of beauty," says Bremner, "showing girls as young as 10 and women as old as 95, women from a variety of ethnic and social backgrounds, as well as those with real curves."
Dove's debut billboard image of ten women -- all different sizes and ethnicities, each wearing nothing but a white bra and underwear -- would go on to circulate worldwide.
The Impact: "Real Beauty" was one of the first ad campaigns to be widely discussed on social media. Some controversy accompanied the campaign, including conflicts over retouching and whether female-empowerment messages should be used to shill products. But the reaction was overwhelmingly positive, landing Dove a decade of awards and praise for finally making real women's bodies visible.
"Dove is proud of the successes that we have had over the past ten years to reach women and impact the next generation," Bremner says, "and we applaud other brands for joining us to reshape the messages and images that women see."
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