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Postrel Vs Dove Analysis

Decent Essays

Differently Beautiful: Dove True Beauty Campaign versus Virginia Postrel Advertisements have an impact on individuals in society, regardless of what the ads are trying to sell or promote. Certain advertisements force the idea and image of what true beauty “actually” is. These advertisements portray the ideal body which makes a majority of women strive to attain that look, by any means necessary. However, The Dove Beauty Campaign, Real Beauty, revolutionized society’s idea on beauty and allows women to feel beautiful on their own. Dove’s campaign presents the idea that women do not need dozens of cosmetic products to feel beautiful; instead, they should “love the skin [they are] in” (Dove). Virginia Postrel, writer for Bloomberg View and author …show more content…

One example is found in Dove’s commercial, “Dove Loves Your Curls”, in which various women and girls say no to taming their curls and let them flow naturally, embracing how they naturally look (Dove). The commercial persuades women to accept their hair rather than want to change its color or look. Postrel argues in her article that Dove’s motive is not to make women embrace their natural beauty because of “their endless line of cosmetic products” which make women “feel [obligated] to buy the products” so they look beautiful (678). Postrel believes that since Dove has their line of cosmetic products to make women look more “beautiful,” that Dove is lying to their customers about the company wanting women to embrace their natural beauty. Although Dove did market a cosmetic line in 2007, Dove has changed their mission for women. Postrel falls short in her belief because Dove recognized their downfalls and redesigned with their new improved mission since her article was written. Dove’s body care line includes soaps, shampoos, and even added a Dove Men Care line. Dove’s new mission strives to make all women feel beautiful on their own, without the aid of caking on cosmetic products or photo-shop technology. Jeesun Kim, a professor at the California State University Fullerton, argues in her article, “Are You Feeling Better About Your Body Image?” …show more content…

In the commercial there is an artist who sketches how an individual sees themselves as versus how others see the individual as, making the reveal breathtaking and captivating. Following the reveal of the portraits, the various women selected feel more beautiful than they initially thought. According to Millard, the survey was performed before the launch of their new campaign, and presented that only “two percent out of 3,200 women from ten countries” perceive themselves as “naturally beautiful,” while “thirteen percent are very satisfied” with the way they look (147). Most women do not believe that alone they possess beautiful, but Dove is attempting to change their minds by having the sketch artist draw two different portraits. Postrel claims that Dove uses “women who may not look like super models, [but are] young girls” in their commercials and advertisements (680). Postrel falls short because in the commercial of sketches, Dove uses all women of different sizes, shapes and colors. Lauren Picarello author of the article “Dove’s Real Beauty Impacts Real Women and Creates Real Impact” examines in her article the commercial of the sketch artist and the impact it had on the women. Picarello acknowledges that Dove “is brave enough to look under the hood” and “expose the real emotions” to motivate the customers (Picarello). Dove steps out

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