Nov 07
26
Dove Besieged over Onslaught
What goes up, must come down, I suppose. If you subscribe to Social Media Today (my podcast, you would already know about this when Jason Theodore and I discussed it), but it seems like the Dove’s are coming home to roost at Unilever.
It has been hitting me everywhere over the last couple of days, Unilever owns both the Dove and Axe brands. Unilever is trying to send positive messages to young women via their Campaign for Real Beauty, evolution and onslaught spots (or at least exposing the negative), but also trying to appeal to young males via the use of the use of the exact same tactics in their Axe campaign (i.e. sexy uber-skinny models and what many would deem as sexist situations).
There is no question that Unilever is hypocritical in this case, but strangely I don’t have a problem with it. Here’s why:
- The cyncial side of me says that they are just speaking in ways that resonate with their audiences (i.e. Dove is trying to appeal to women over 80 lbs and Axe is trying to appeal to 14 year-old boys).
- The sensible side of me says that one brand at a huge conglomerate like Unilever cannot be held accountable for the actions of another (right hand and left hand are not often coordinated). Absolutely hold Unilever accountable for the inconsistency, but not the individual brands, because they don’t talk or collaborate a fraction as much as the conspiracy theorists would have you believe.
- Dove is arguably the best mass example of something approaching a responsible advertising campaign, so if you like it and want to see more of it, buy Dove and don’t buy Axe. Vote with your wallet, since it is the only message the shareholders will ever care about. Penalizing Dove for the actions of Axe, simply doesn’t make sense, since it sends a message that the campaign is not working to those watching the sales.
The above video makes a great point about the two-faced nature of Unilever, but if you want to see more socially responsible advertising (which I do), then don’t send a negative message to one of the few brands getting it close to right.
[tags] Unilever, Dove, Axe, Onslaught, Evolution, Social Media Today, [/tags]
