Year: 1997

The Concept: It would still be another seven years before Dove would release its massive "Real Beauty" campaign, so in many ways The Body Shop was ahead of its time. In 1997, the brand created Ruby, one of the first characters in advertising to represent "attainable ideals" for women.

Marina Galanti, responsible for The Body Shop's advertising and marketing at the time, told the New York Times, "The images in the barrage of advertising around you have very little to do with people riding the bus with you, sitting in the office with you, having dinner with you.... It's good to celebrate our points of difference. And Ruby does that."

The Impact: Ruby was accompanied by the following slogan: "There are three billion women who don't look like supermodels and only eight who do."

Body positivity was a new thing in beauty advertising, and in the late '90s, it was The Body Shop's way of differentiating itself. Though Ruby's image didn't become as iconic as Barbie's, it helped set a precedent for empowering campaigns to come.

Year: 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."

Year: 2013

The Concept: Kotex launched their largely online "Generation Know" campaign to inspire girls "to come together to help dispel vaginal health and wellness myths, while creating a generation of girls comfortable asking questions," says U by Kotex Senior Brand Manager Melissa Dennis.

The brand launched a YouTube channel for the campaign, offering videos of straight-talking girls asking questions and slamming misconceptions about vaginal health. The videos address hush-hush topics from douching to period smell. (Hey, it's a thing).

The Impact: "Generation Know" was part of a larger trend that began in the early 2010s, backlashing against "traditional" feminine hygiene ads, which often feature smiley-faced women frolicking in fields and twirling in swimming pools. (Because we all definitely frolic during our time of the month).

Inviting women of different ages and backgrounds to speak honestly about this topic created a feeling of acceptance and inclusiveness that we rarely see in beauty ads.

Year: 2013-2014

The Concept: If you haven't seen HelloFlo's genius "Camp Gyno" and "First Moon Party" commercials, you're missing out on some serious hilarity. HelloFlo is a one-of-a-kind subscription service, offering monthly care packages for your hoo-ha. It also offers two of the funniest tampon ads, ever.

Now, period jokes are hardly our favorite kind of humor, but HelloFlo managed to create a series of laugh-out-loud short films to promote their brand, while simultaneously taking the taboo out of our lady days.

"We wanted to spark a dialogue about 'the [period] conversation,'" says Bloom. "The message in both of these videos is that as a parent, your job is to educate your daughters about their bodies. If you don't do it, they will get the information elsewhere."

The Impact: Talk about an Internet sensation. There were a few months in '13 and '14 when we couldn't log onto Facebook without seeing these videos shared by our best friends and former high school teachers alike. The ads made humor and brutal candor cool. Periods jokes. Who knew?

Year: 2014

The Concept: Pantene's 2014 campaign challenged women to #ShineStrong, not only through their Pantene-nourished hair, but also through their attitudes.

The campaign's most popular ad was their "Not Sorry" video, which begged women to stop apologizing for themselves -- to ask questions without prefacing them with self-effacing comments, to ask for help without showing weakness, to say not sorry but instead, #sorrynotsorry.

The Impact: This controversial video sparked an enormous online discussion. While the message seemed to promote self-assuredness, at the same time, it followed this format: "Ladies, stop doing X, because it makes you seem Y, and start doing Z." Not dissimilar to, "Ladies, stop wearing mini skirts, because it makes you seem loose, and start wearing tailored suits."

The video has since been watched over 16 million times on YouTube, earning equal numbers of positive and negative ratings from viewers.