Dove Teaches New Branding Tricks to Old Broads

Or something like that. (By the way, since I’m a broad, I can use that term according to strict PC regulations.)

So, Dove has yet again extended its Real Beauty campaign, this time launching a line of “pro-aging” products. Yet again there’s a video intended to shock and spur sharing among empowered women. This time it displays women over 50 in the buff, covering naughty bits, of course. Annie Leibovitz’s camera zooms in on wrinkled skin, and women of many shades and sizes lift their heads in pride. Another video clip features reactions from women, most positive.

The site also features a sign-up to get free samples, info on the women in the ads, and a call-out for other women to be shown in future pro-age campaigns.

The forum discussion on the site is also laden with thankful messages, giving Dove hero status. One particular comment caught my eye: “Hooray for Dove. It is about time we concentrated on ‘real beauty’. I do not see why this commercial cannot be on TV. We see many many more explicit things on tv.”

Indeed, as each woman is presented in the ad, the screen flashed the text, “too old to be in an anti-aging ad.”

Hmmm…is that simply a statement meant to express the fact that women in anti-aging product ads typically tend to be younger than the ones who actually use those products? Or was Dove actually denied ad time?

Well, the site lists this among its “TV commercials,” so I’m assuming they actually are running on TV. I have a call into Dove’s PR firm on this, though, so we’ll see!