Dove calls for a national inquiry into body image in new campaign via PHD, FORWARD and POLY
Real beauty pioneer Dove has partnered with Butterfly Foundation to call for a National Inquiry into body image in the hope to bring about real change to harmful body ideals in Australia. The first of its kind multi-channel campaign, developed by PHD Australia and FORWARD, features advertising that visually evolves as more Australians sign the petition.
The campaign aims to address the issue of body dissatisfaction in Australia after recent research commissioned by Dove revealed that more than half of Australian girls (58%) are dissatisfied with their overall appearance.
Says Christine Weatherby, marketing manager Australia, Dove: “This call for a National Body Image Inquiry in partnership with Butterfly Foundation is the next necessary step to truly understand the reality and impact of body dissatisfaction in Australia, so that industry codes, policies and programs can be put in place to reduce the potential for harm within online and real-world environments, and to protect and support the body image of children, young people and adults. Dove is calling for all Australians to sign the petition, increase awareness of this issue and ultimately drive change for young Australians impacted by body dissatisfaction. For every name added to the campaign, it takes us one step closer to succeeding in creating change.”
Running across video, social, outdoor, influencer marketing and PR, the campaign forms the second phase of Dove’s #DetoxYourFeed platform launched earlier this year, and ignites greater social and political action behind Dove’s commitment to help all women develop a positive relationship with the way they look.
Says Mitchell Long, national head of strategy, PHD: “Given the research findings and the fact that the last time a call for an inquiry into body image was in 2009, before many of today’s big social media apps even existed, PHD and FORWARD saw a genuine need for inquiry. To motivate action, a core part of our strategy was to visualise our progress as more Australians sign the petition in order to rally others to get behind the cause.”
Dove and PHD engaged POLY, oOh! Media’s creative and innovation hub to bring the idea to life across iconic outdoor digital screens with responsive ads hosting a live tally that in turn evolves the artwork as more Australians sign the petition.
The outdoor campaign features a live dynamic counter that invites people to sign the petition via a QR code. The creative is built upon Dove’s existing TVC of a girl on her mobile viewing toxic beauty advice which appears to be negatively impacting her self-esteem. As more people sign the petition, the number of toxic social tiles displayed decreases, enabling supporters to witness their impact and remove toxic advice from the girl’s feed in real-time. The executions will be supported on ground with brand ambassadors engaging the public to discuss and consider signing the petition.
Says Neil Ackland, chief content, marketing and creative officer, oOh!: “At POLY, we’re proud to have partnered with Dove, Butterfly and PHD to bring this important campaign to life. As a creative and innovation hub, we’ve pushed the boundaries to engage audiences via Out of Home and show them the impact of their support in real-time. It’s thrilling to see how technology can be used to drive social and political change. Dove’s campaign is a testament to POLY’s creativity and passion for innovation.”
To learn more about the petition and how you can support, visit dove.com/au/petition.html
Unilever ANZ
Dove Marketing Manager ANZ, Christine Weatherby and Kate Westgate
Dove Assistant Brand Manager, Mone Go
Head of Personal Care and Beauty & Wellbeing ANZ, John McKeon
Media & Digital Hub Director, Sarah Sorrenson
Senior Media and Brand Engagement Manager ANZ, Alison Holland
Digital & Data Manager, Maria Gudino
Digital & Data Assistant Manager, Ella Regalado
Legal Lead, Peter Kuschow
Senior Communications Consultant, Jessie Davis
Butterfly Foundation
Melissa Wilton, Head of Communications & Engagement
Sarah Squire, Head of Knowledge, Research and Policy
Danni Rowland, Head of Prevention
Zoe Bradbury, Digital Content Coordinator
PHD
National Head of Strategy, Mitchell Long
Group Business Director, Ali Jones
Business Director, Punesh Han
Co-Head Of Investment, Emma Wood
Investment Director, Christine Chen
Investment Manager, Mikeah Irving
Activation Executive, Jasmine Joseph
FORWARD
Founder & Managing Director, Fergus Kibble
General Manager, Caroline Lovejoy
Group Account Director, Eleni Gavalas
Account Manager, Ainslie Lambourne
Senior Account Executive, Monica Nishizaki
POLY
Creative Director, Peter Galmes
Art Director, Ella Trengove
Motion Designer, Michael Ong
Production Director, Richard Moore
Digital Producer, Zoe Chan-Iverach
oOh! Media CMC technology
Concept feasibility, Ian Grant
Concept feasibility and support, William Littlefield
Development delivery, Michelle Su
Consulting tech lead, Mark Passlow
Lead developer, Luke Haillay
Backend developer, Ramesh Bhatta
Further collaborating partners
oOh! media, Scentre Group, Meta, Google, TikTok
8 Comments
squinting to read the small print as I get out my phone and attempt to get a clear shot of the QR code between the trees and powerlines but it’s too small for my phone to register
so let me get this straight – Dove , a company renowned for its history of marketing perfect skinned , perfect shaped , beautiful women is now a leader in body image? This is embarrassing.
clearly not familiar with any of Dove’s actual marketing over the years like Real Beauty Sketches to name but one.
It’s unclear from the above (and from the landing page) what a ‘National Inquiry into Body Image’ actually means, or what it might hope to achieve. Is the average punter meant to somehow understand this? Without explaining the why (as in how and why the Inquiry would make a difference), the whole thing feels kinda performative and virtue-signally. We can all shout about things, yknow?
This would be better if when you scanned the QR code it made your phone explode so you didn’t have to see anything that might do anything other than affirm you as perfect just the way you are.
But you too could feel better about yourself if you just used our range of body washes and moisturising creams for both day and night, made to make you feel your current skin is inadequate and needs a little bit of help.
Can’t they just sell soap like they used to?
As a mother of two kids I couldn’t love this more when I think about the cr*p my kids are exposed to online today.
Stick to selling soap. Not lecturing people on how to think.