The latest viral advertisement has me thinking a lot. I'm sure you've seen it. If not, I'll wait six minutes. Off you go. If you’d rather not click the link, or you've seen the video but need a refresher—Dove has been at it again.
Dove's "Real Beauty Sketches" commercial features a scant warehouse-type building where a number of women describe their appearance through soft camera lenses while violin music plays in the background. A forensic artist draws these women as they describe themselves, then he draws the same women the way a stranger describes them after a brief introduction. The resulting images are, obviously, quite different. The message? Women don't see their own beauty. Women need to triumph their natural beauty. Women are more beautiful than they give themselves credit for.
The day after I saw that video a blog post began popping up on Facebook, generating as much of a reaction as the commercial. I really enjoyed that blog post, and I'm now following the author on Tumblr. If you haven't yet read jazzylittledrops' response to the Dove "Real Beauty Sketches" commercial, I strongly encourage you to do so. Again, I'll wait. Clicky clicky.
I admit, when I first saw the commercial I had the emotional reaction Dove probably spent tens of thousands to squeeze from me. I'm not ashamed to say I'm a little sentimental. I like to see people change. I like to see people brought to smile. I cue the tears when the music swells.
Perhaps I'm a product of culture, but I'm not totally gullible. There was something about that commercial that didn't sit well with me. It was too fabricated, too one-sided, too obvious. The forensic artist initially drew wider chins, baggier eyes, broader noses. He also drew shadows over their portrait souls. Many faces with broad noses and wide chins have eyes that burn with spirited fire, but not the faces in those portraits.
This commercial uses a classic "before and after" display. The first images were heavy with doubt, exhaustion, negativity. There was nowhere to go but up after that. The forensic artist drew the second picture with airs of cheer and energy. True, the faces were all thinner, with more slender or angled features, but what stood out to me was the second pictures and not the first, were drawn with smiles. That was a stylistic choice of the forensic artist, not the describer.
And where were the women who described themselves according to the features they love? I refuse to believe that those women were not part of this "experiment." Unless, of course, this was a fabrication and not an experiment. And that's where I see the problem. This was not a social experiment recorded and reported, it was advertising—a spare-no-expenses demonstration of modes of persuasion.
After I finished watching that video I dried my eyes, blew my nose, and reposted. I liked the message I easily interpreted—don't be so hard on yourself—but as with so many things, I took it with a grain of salt. So my repost came with some pithy commentary. "Oh Dove, if anyone is going to get me with carefully constructed rhetoric, I'm glad it's you."
The next day a brilliant friend of mine, whose opinion I highly respect, shared jazzylittledrops' blog, accompanied by a resounding "YES!" I read the blog post and immediately thought, oh shit, was I duped by the establishment?
I agree with much of that post's argument. I'm grateful that the author took the time to really deconstruct the commercial and expose those perpetuated stereotypes. Dove's advertising targets an important but sadly capitalized appeal, and if they are going to trumpet the cause then they should be held to a high standard of accountability and transparency. But something about that blog post troubled me as well. It took me longer to figure out what it was compared to what bothered me about the original commercial, but I think I finally have it.
I don't think criticisms of presentations like the Dove "Sketches of Beauty" commercial should breed dissonance. In fact, I'd like to be clear that I think the author, Jazz, does a very good job of presenting both the positive and negative sides of this commercial. Her subsequent responses to supporters and critics reveal that she is mindful that on some level the Dove commercial aims for a good message, but misses its mark.
I worry about the real-world efficacy of the way we write criticism. The structure of her argument is very familiar. We all do it. "This is interesting, but..." I believe this preface creates that polarity I worry about. Friends of mine who have reposted this blog do so with pointedly averse opinions of the Dove commercial. I'm concerned that the "but" approach to criticism draws a line in the sand. Instead, I think we should criticize this content with good old-fashioned positive reinforcement. This commercial was interesting AND…
This commercial was interesting, and I think Dove can go further. This commercial was thought provoking, and I think if Dove were to authentically conduct this experiment it would generate even more constructive discussion. This commercial made some good points, and I think that Dove could do better at making those points accurately represent the problems that women face with identity and perception. This commercial was a good idea on paper, and I think if Dove focused more on truth and less on commercial manipulation they could be a real leader in change and consequently sell more shampoo.
While there are problems with this commercial—I saw some, the author of jazzylittledrops saw others—it was a good conversation starter. I worry that we might all slip into deconstructive brain stomping (that is a theoretical term, by the way), if we automatically put on our skeptic hats and dismiss the ad as a failure altogether. Instead, I would love for this brief moment while we've all come down with the Dove Real Beauty Sketch virus, before our online immunity kicks in and we forget all about this, we focus on how this might facilitate positive change, AND what should happen next.
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