Dove puts dusky skin and white hair in the spotlight

The brand, that famously advocates 'real beauty', has launched a campaign that, once again, attempts to break the conventional 'rules of beauty'.

If beauty means skinny, young, fair women with straight, long, flowing hair, what are dusky, chubby, aged, bespectacled women with short, curly hair doing in Dove's latest ad campaign?

Breaking the rules of beauty, that's what.

The personal care brand from HUL takes all the conventional notions of beauty and flips them around in its latest multi-media ad campaign, one that makes a strong case for 'real beauty'. The idea is to celebrate the "diversity within beauty" as film maker Pan Nalin, who has captured the images and videos for the campaign, puts it.

Ogilvy has created this campaign.

Globally, Dove is known for its strong stance on real beauty; remember the brand's Choose Beautiful and Real Beauty Sketches campaigns?

This time, through digital platforms like Twitter and Instagram, the brand invited consumers to be a part of the campaign. The copy reads: "Be part of our real beauty movement. Inspire others by sharing your beauty... Join the conversation and upload your photo on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #RealBeauty. Share your #RealBeauty" and "When it comes to your body, love the one you're with."

So far, we've spotted these creatives on billboards and online. As far as the latter goes, the brand has also released short behind-the-scenes videos on many of the women featured in the campaign.

Beautiful Effort?

Ritu Sharda, senior executive creative director, BBDO India, says, "It's beautiful. I would not venture into calling anything unconventional, as there is a danger of unconventional becoming the new conventional now. There is something so beautiful in every face, each glowing with pride -- the pride of being happy with who you are. No wonder, everyone is smiling. There are no pouts and no cheeks sucked in, nor noses pulled in. In fact, there is someone with her eyes shut who says her eyes are her best feature. It's a nice way to take the campaign forward."

About the media plan, she adds, "I would put these beautiful faces on outdoor. I feel nothing impacts like a big hoarding does. It's the 'big screen cinema' feeling. And, I definitely think, it'll make our cities look beautiful."

Prabha Prabhu, former chief executive officer, Madison BMB, says, "The campaign is fantastic. It reflects women of today, who don't have to be fair to be confident and that is very clear. It's about what you are, what you are achieving, what you are capable of... Dove has done a fabulous job... even the fat girl is not conscious. Today, girls who are fat don't care. They are achieving things. They are confident and that is what comes across as beauty..."

She adds, "Today, we are all proud of being Indian and of wearing our own Indian stuff. Even in marriages, everything is changing. Earlier, beautiful meant fair. Today, that is changing. Even in advertising, there was this trend earlier - the girl turns fair just by using the fairness cream, the boy comes to see the girl, he likes her and they get married. But today, in these ads, the girl says 'no' to marriage and tells her dad she wants to wait for three years, become capable and then get married. Ads for fairness creams today, are more about the glow, than about the colour."

When talking about the ideal media platform for creatives like these, Prabhu differs from Sharda though. "The medium these ads should be on is digital.... one will need some explanation as to what the ads are about, and that's not possible on outdoor. Typically, there's just one short line and some pictures on a billboard. Digital is perfect - and today, age is no bar for women on digital," she says.