Dove v. Axe Essay Example

embracing diversity instead of ignoring social differences. While Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty offers an alternative definition of beauty and aims to unite women under this concept of "real beauty," it also prioritizes individualism over collectivity, excludes certain groups, and promotes identity formation through material possessions instead of personal connections.

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is not a subaltern counter-public, but rather a product of corporate instrumentalism that aims to fragment and commodify that public. Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty promotes fragmentation by targeting women as individuals and creating platforms for women to compete with each other. In 2007, Dove's magazine, Shine, organized a contest to find the most "unique" hairstyle, promoting it as a means of self-expression and individuality. Women were encouraged to create their own Shine online magazine profile, explaining how their hair showcased their uniqueness. While these contests intended to celebrate and honor each woman's individuality, they also divided women by encouraging them to solely focus on personal traits that would make them deserving of the prize. Instead of fostering acceptance and unity against beauty standards, Dove fosters competition among private individuals to determine whose appearance is more distinctive.

According to Author Benjamin Barber, the cultural emphasis on individualism compels individuals to prioritize their own desires over the wellbeing of the society, as seen in the Dove campaign where individual consumerist wants override the importance of public discourse (128). While Fraser argues for a well-rounded public sphere that includes more than just discussions about the "common good," the concentration on individual concerns and experiences in the Dove campaign undermines the idea of collective resistance against Western beauty standards.

According to Barber (128),

prevarication transforms the hidden, impulsive part of oneself into an unintentional opponent of society. The Shine contest, promoted by Dove's campaign, seemingly provides a public platform for women to showcase their unique identities. However, this emphasis on personal needs and wants limits and downplays social awareness and conversation.

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty website offers a blog forum where people can share their thoughts and experiences about various issues, including their own personal stories and fears about their image. Both individual submissions and responses to previous entries are welcome on the blog. Fraser proposes a civic-republican perspective of the public sphere, which she believes is more beneficial for subaltern groups, as opposed to Habeas' individualistic public sphere concept.

According to Fraser (130), private individuals can engage in collective action based on their private interests, which serves as a foundation for social debate. The Dove campaign promotes the idea of individuals fighting against Western beauty ideals and encourages group discussions. However, participation in these discussions is limited due to the categorization of forums such as "Mothers and Mentors," "Girls Only," and "Ageless Beauties," which emphasizes individualism.

The purpose of Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty is to provide a platform for women to discuss and debate society's standards of beauty. However, it achieves this by prioritizing Arctic's self-promotion and image-building, as seen in Seine's hair contest and the specific focus of Dove's blog forum. (2007)

Dove promotes individualism and competition, leading to divisions between women and contributing to the company's goal of reshaping society's perception of beauty. Additionally, as discussions on body image predominantly occur on Dove's website, participation often involves physical isolation through the use of

computers. Internet historian Steven G. Jones contends that computer-mediated communication facilitates structured communities in obtaining, organizing, and preserving social connections.

Jones proposes that individuals strive for community through any means possible, particularly when physical spaces fail to foster connections (11). The gathering of women online to engage as empowered members of society acknowledges the absence of a traditional community in the physical realm due to social disintegration. While many seek solace and assistance in virtual realms, participating in these online communities eradicates the necessity for geographical proximity during interactions.

In the quest for a sense of belonging in a simulated world, civic skills deteriorate, leading to both the development and the outcome of isolation and social apathy in Pensacola. As the public sphere becomes increasingly fragmented and less fulfilling, individuals tend to retreat into their own private domains in search of self-validation, satisfaction, and even opportunities for counter-hegemonic actions. However, this withdrawal allows the social order to gain more control over society, weakening the privatized self and diminishing its ability to challenge significant matters.

According to Bogs (81), the Internet serves as a tool for cultural criticism and marginal forms of expression. However, it can also be seen as a contributing factor to social disintegration. While online communities are being formed, our connections to real publics are being destroyed (Barber 228). Furthermore, the Internet, as a platform for sharing subaltern views, lacks the physical connectedness necessary to drive people to take action. David S.

Allen (34) distinguishes between two types of public: an informed public and an active public. In an informed public, citizens achieve their goals by relying solely on information-providing institutions,

isolating themselves from others. These individuals substitute knowledge about a situation for taking action. Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty aims to provide knowledge and discussion platforms concerning society's perception of beauty. However, it simultaneously encourages narcissistic competition among women, as they strive to be heard and acknowledged.

Similarly, Dove's online "real beauty' community and its language used to convey its message separate women from other members of the general public that the Dove campaign fails to acknowledge. Additionally, the Dove campaign promotes embracing diversity and redefining societal standards of beauty, yet it excludes certain groups from actively participating, such as men. This exclusion is evident in both Dove's interactive Real Beauty website and its television advertisements.

Women's beauty standards are a significant concern because they are shaped by different experiences, views, and colonization compared to men. However, it is important to note that men are also affected by these standards. Chicago Sun Times columnist Richard Roper's comments highlight the influence of unrealistic and unhealthy portrayals of women in advertisements and the mass media. Roper expresses discomfort with Dove ads, suggesting that men are familiar with images of larger women revealing excessive skin, particularly at events like Taste of Chicago.

When discussing billboards showcasing women in lingerie outside my living room window, I prefer to see idealized and fantasized portrayals. While some may think this makes me superficial, shallow, and sexist, I acknowledge that I am a man. (Poster 1) Dove's campaign overlooks the impact of men's perception of beauty on women's own self-perception, despite highlighting the unrealistic beauty standards women face. Social psychologist Carol Atavist points out that the fact that the majority of women

getting cosmetic breast implants are in their thirties and forties and already married suggests motives beyond vanity (Atavist 217).

One woman interviewed Day lava's, salad near Tanner uses to joke Tanat "nee couldn't tell near Toronto Trot her back," and that her husband often joined in on the laugh (Atavist 218). According to Atavist's findings and Roper's comments, men's perception of female beauty is influenced by the same 120 advertising that negatively affects women. This further adds to the pressure on women to conform to such standards. Consequently, there has been some controversy surrounding Dove's parent company Milliner; Milliner also owns Axe, a distinctly male line of hygiene products.

In contrast to the Dove campaign, the Axe ads depict women who embody the contemporary beauty ideal with long hair, small waists, and large breasts. The issue lies in the contradiction of these marketing campaigns because they are gendered. While Dove promotes "real beauty" in ads aimed at women, the ads targeting men still portray unrealistic ideals. Dove provides an alternative to mainstream beauty standards seen in Axe commercials but fails to challenge the influence of men's advertising on women's perception of beauty. Instead of promoting a collective notion of "real beauty" for all, the gendered nature of Dove and Axe advertising creates a divide between "real women" and "fantasy babes." Furthermore, by endorsing images of "real women," Dove suggests that those who don't fit the ideal are not genuine women and that real women are not the ideal.

The Dove campaign excludes women from participation, contradicting its goal of promoting diversity. The slogan "Real women have real curves" highlights how the campaign undermines itself. Some

critics argue that the focus on the "ideal" body perpetuates negative body image and low self-esteem in naturally thin girls who are accused of having an eating disorder. Nancy Fraser suggests that embracing the complexity of identities expands possibilities. However, the Dove campaign fails to recognize and tolerate diversity, reinforcing society's reliance on material possessions for acceptance. The campaign promotes a positive self-image but also encourages image construction through consumer goods, replacing genuine human connections. These examples are called "common TTY Telltales."Common TTY Telltales suggests that material objects, despite their actual purpose, can symbolize meanings that are unrelated to their intrinsic value. This is exemplified by the fact that individuals typically value commodities based on the socially constructed associations rather than the labor and effort invested in their making (Common 77). On the other hand, Dove, while emphasizing authenticity, simultaneously promotes various beauty and hair products such as skin firming creams, tanning lotion, and "pro-age" ointments.

On the other hand, the Dove company is connected to the idea of "real beauty" through its Campaign for Real Beauty. This association, however, has little to do with the products sold by Dove. According to the Dove Global Study, 88% of participants stated that feeling beautiful is closely linked to "being loved" (29). The Dove/Shine hair contest's slogan, "loving your hair," reinforces the connection between the Dove brand and love. Thus, Dove products can be seen as physical embodiments of the concept of love, or at least as tools to assist women in loving themselves.

According to Otto Relieved, the main purpose of "brandishing" is not to sell the reduce but to create a fascination with the brand,

making the customer relate to the brand's world and generating brand awareness with a strong emotional core (10). The concept of "brandishing" can be observed in Dove's new short film, Onslaught. The film starts with a young pre-teen girl and then presents a barrage of advertisements and commercials that pressure women to appear "younger, firmer, tighter, softer." In response, Dove promotes a curvier body. However, some participants in Dove's forum argue that Dove is simply using a clever euphemism for obesity (Dove 2008). Despite marketing contradictions such as promoting "pro-age" ointments to reduce aging signs, "natural glow" tanning lotions for healthy skin, and firming creams for great curves, Dove has managed to establish brand loyalty that surpasses these contradictions.

Instead of maintaining a strict separation between society and the state, Dove links itself to ideals of beauty, self-esteem, and self-empowerment. However, Dove's promotion of individualism and the freedom to shape one's identity is deeply influenced by laissez-faire capitalism within the marketplace, according to Fraser (133).

Despite its potential, Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty replaces civic empowerment through social discussion with the acquisition of private rewards. A recent campaign by Dove called Sleepover for Self-Esteem organized mass sleepovers across Canada for girls aged 8-14 to address contemporary beauty standards. While it provided a platform for face-to-face reciprocal discussion about social concerns, participants were incentivized with prizes to encourage their participation.

Below the sign form on Dove's Sleepover for Self-Esteem website, there is an option to indicate if guests would like to participate in a sweepstake to win a free trip to Jamaica, family movie packages, and free song downloads. Additionally, if customers buy two

Dove products, they can get a free pair of pajamas, which one can assume are meant to be worn at the sleepover party. These promotions perpetuate the capitalist mindset by encouraging competition and individual material gain. Such personal values contribute to social fragmentation and the erosion of broader (yet intangible) social values.

Dove's campaign links its brand with ideas of youth, love, and empowerment. However, this association takes away the genuineness of these concepts. Barber suggests that by connecting Cheerios with the idea of "Mom" and "family love," the true reality of motherhood becomes equally unreal as its use in branding (195). Similarly, associating Dove with natural beauty and self-esteem diminishes the authenticity of these notions, turning them into empty representations. These superficial connections perpetuate a constant search for genuine emotional connection and support through the promises made by the brand.

According to cultural studies scholars Suit Shall, William Leis, and Steven Kline, the decrease in societal support is a result of individualism and fragmentation. They argue that individuals now have the lifelong responsibility of creating and maintaining their own identity through self-improvement, personal development, self-expression, and essentially "selling oneself" (222).

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty actually reinforces contemporary beauty standards instead of challenging them. This is evident in their selling of products that contradict the campaign's message. Additionally, they encourage girls and women to perpetuate the idea that beauty, whether "real" or "fantasy," should be pursued throughout their lives and requires constant effort. Many teenagers undergo cosmetic surgeries out of self-dissatisfaction, which is disguised as a way to boost self-esteem. By choosing cosmetic surgery, these girls prioritize the obsession and control over their bodies

rather than seeking a form of transcendence that involves forgetting the body (Barber 196). As a result, "real beauty" is no different from beauty achieved through cosmetics and surgical procedures. Although the Dove campaign claims to challenge beauty standards, it fails to address women's obsession with altering their bodies in order to enhance their self-worth.

Instead, Dove markets its products as symbols of "real beauty" and correlates them with the concept of "self-esteem." In doing so, Dove portrays "self-esteem" as a tangible item that can be bought, particularly in the form of cosmetics and firming creams. Through purchasing these products, women become living advertisements for Dove's promotion of "self-esteem" and consequently view others as objects that also endorse a specific brand. Notable figures like Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, and Oprah have become endorsers of these brands.

The intention behind purchasing Nikkei is for individuals to perceive themselves as acquiring the qualities of Michael Jordan, thereby becoming him (Barber 182). Similarly, individuals who buy Dove products aim to associate themselves with the brand and its logo, resulting in a form of branded fetishism. Consequently, the Dove campaign does not consist of a collective group of women working towards common subaltern objectives. Instead, it is made up of individual objects that embody the notions of "real beauty" and "self-esteem" as defined by the brand (25 Conclusion). Therefore, Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty does not function as a subaltern counterclaim but rather as a byproduct of corporate instrumentalism. This campaign works towards fragmenting and commodifying the public. Despite positioning itself as a resistance against conformist and unrealistic Western beauty standards, Dove presents itself as the solution while inadvertently

supporting corporate reasoning. It promotes individualism over collectivity, operates based on exclusions rather than pluralism, and encourages identity formation through consumerism and fetishization of goods.

Dove promotes the idea of "real beauty" while also selling beauty products, reinforcing societal expectations of female appearance. The lack of collective action beyond individual and group oppositions allows this ideal to persist. Additionally, true self-esteem comes from meaningful relationships and support systems like friends, family, and community. Advertising, however, only exacerbates the emotional gap it tries to fill by promoting the consumption of commodities.

According to Stuart Owen, when faced with mass culture, we are provided with both our own way of criticizing it and corporate solutions to its problems (219). Despite the increasing presence of niche markets representing marginalized groups like Goths, gays, blacks, and women, can we truly see these alternative publics as counter-hegemonic? Fraser suggests that social efforts benefiting one group while harming another and the belief in a common good shared by exploiters and exploited should be viewed skeptically.