Dove’s mission is to make morewomen feel beautiful every day by widening the stereotypical view of beauty andinspiring women to take great care of themselves. Dove’s lotion firming ad has six diverse women posing together in a very confident way. These women are posing in their undergarments making it seem like they have a high self-esteem about their natural womanly curves. All these women seem to have been selected from those in an everyday society instead of celebrities. Is the message these advertisers trying to send going to leave a positive influence on members of society or can they portray a more natural beauty?
This ad by Dove strictly targets their viewers’ emotional appeals in several ways. First off there is no distracting background colors or objects in the ad so that the viewers’ focus is solely on the appearance of the women. The only thing that Dove has included in the ad is their logo, their slogan, “New DoveFirming. As tested on real curves” and a picture of the lotion line that they sell. The color white is used to symbolize that with Dove you can look forward to a brighter future. The image is also taken from a long distance in order to show the whole body image of the individuals and their natural curves. This leaves the audience to think that their curves could be just as beautiful if they were to try Dove’s lotion products. The orientation of the ad is also set up in a front view perspective to put an emphasis on the body image and facial expressions of each of the women. In order to draw focus to the women each of them are looking directly at the camera so they can imply a sense of power to their audience. The ad includes women who come from all different ethnicities in life so that the viewer can see that beauty is universal and comes in all different forms. Although the ad focuses on the element of universal beauty, they fail to put their focus on inner beauty and seem to focus just on the outer beauty. Finally, the use of little clothing implies sexiness and can leave the viewer wishing they could also feel that way in little clothing. Many of the elements in this ad will have a strong emotional appeal to their audience.
Since today’s media ads are heavily focused on supermodel like qualities it targets females and makes them feel as if that’s how they need to look. However, for this ad Dove used the average woman diminishing this feeling of their viewers. This demonstrates the use of pathos by Dove’s ad. With this ad, Dove tries to send the message that not all women have to have impeccable bodies and that the physical features they attain are beautiful. I think that Dove wants women to know that they make products for all types of women and it can help to restore and attain their beauty. The use of pathos is also seen in how the women are depicted in the image. Every one of them is shown with a bright and confident smile while comfortably posing in their own skin. With these women, showing self-confidence and joy it influences the viewers’ to want to feel this way to. The viewers’ want to feel as if they can be accepted into a group of such confident women. With these women, just wearing undergarments they remain satisfied with their body image and sexuality. This implies to the viewers’ that there are not afraid to show their real physical appearances’ and makes the viewer want to feel sexy in their own body as well. It is not surprising that women want to be slender and beautiful, because as a society “we know more aboutwomen who look good than we know about women who do good,” says former teen model Audrey Brashich.
While looking at this ad from Dove I think it is important for one to evaluate the way Dove has changed their ads to try to leave a more positive impact on society. One can see the use of ethos in this ad and how Dove is trying to heighten their reputation. I think that with this ad Dove is sending the message that one does not have to have supermodel qualities to feel beautiful in their own skin. They are trying to promote that women come in different shapes, sizes, and skin colors. Dove has begun to think outside of the box of average media by using more realistic and average women for their campaigns, since Dove has altered the use of their images they are building a better foundation for the reputation of their company. They know that the average women in today’s society will appreciate the fact that their ads are not based off what the media projects as beautiful. Instead, they use an average woman with a curvy and thick figure. Kelly Cutrone owner of Peoples’ Revolution states, “models will become heavier if that’s whatconsumers demand and if people decide thin is out, the fashion industry won’thave thin models anymore.” Simply changing an element like this has an impact on women and leaves women to believe Dove is a honorable and ethical company that is truly concerned about their viewers’ and not just making money off them as a consumer. This also leaves them to believe that Dove is trustworthy and that they will provide good effective products.
Ultimately, if Dove continues to change their focal points and continues to move away from the media perception of beauty they will be able to send a positive message and convey a more natural beauty. Although a lot of work needs to be done to achieve this goal, I believe that they have a good start on it through their use of ethos and pathos.
