Dove asks consumers to #StopTheBeautyTest

Beauty soap Dove has released #StopTheBeautyTest, a campaign, that puts forward the thought that beauty is not one dimensional. The brand has attempted to make beauty a positive experience that is accessible to every woman. Through this campaign, Dove addresses an important stage in the life of every young Indian woman subjected to a 'test of beauty' that makes her feel unbeautiful and crushes her self-esteem. 

 

The brand believes that from the time a girl is born, she is constantly looked at through the marriage lens and is judged and rejected for not being beautiful enough when she is of marriageable age. She gets rejected for not meeting certain beauty standards, and sometimes, rejected more than once. Her self-esteem diminishes with each rejection based on her looks. Dove claims this search for beauty is ugly and disparaging.

 

With the #StopTheBeautyTest, Dove questioned what it could do for the Indian woman and make beauty a positive experience for women. Ogilvy India has executed the campaign. The protagonists in the campaign are real, young women covering the five key beauty prejudices i.e. height, weight, complexion, hair type and even birth marks.

Hephzibah Pathak, vice chairperson and chief client officer, Ogilvy India said, "With this campaign, Dove, along with some brave women, provokes a conversation around the practices during the marriage process that diminish and chip away a woman’s self-worth. Dove believes that beauty should be a source of joy for women. For this intention to have meaning and start getting realised in our culture, we had to choose the moment that matters the most, to inspire change. This is a small step towards achieving the brand’s beautiful ambition of a world where women can enjoy beauty on their own terms."

 

Zenobia Pithawalla, senior executive creative director, and Mihir Chanchani - executive creative director, Ogilvy India said, “In India when it comes to a woman and her beauty, she is at her most vulnerable when she is of marriageable age.  90 percent of single women in India feel they are rejected for marriage because of their looks. We decided to intervene at this point, where the woman needs us most. For a young woman the journey of finding a life partner doesn't have to turn into an ugly beauty test. Thus, we came up with Dove’s #StopTheBeautyTest campaign. Staying true to the spirit of brand Dove, we worked with real women who were actually rejected on the basis of their looks. But were brave enough to feature our campaign as they wanted to do their bit to stop this beauty test.”

 

CREDITS

 

Client: Hindustan Unilever

Chief creative officers: Harshad Rajadhyaksha & Kainaz Karmakar

Vice chairperson and chief client officer, Ogilvy India: Hephzibah Pathak

Office leader - Ogilvy India (West): VR Rajesh

Senior executive creative director: Zenobia Pithawalla

Executive creative director: Mihir Chanchani

Chief strategy officer: Prem Narayan

Vice president, planning: Abigail Dias

Executive vice president, account management: Walter Noronha

Vice president, account management: Dharal Goshalia

Account director: Sanam Chowdhry

Account executive: Freea Bhikhaji

 

 

Agency: Ogilvy India