Great news, everyone – now you can grab yourself in the shower! The latest move in Dove’s Real Beauty campaign is to offer their body wash in a variety of differently shaped bottles. How do you pick which one to get? Just get the one that resembles your body shape! Because that’s all any person needs to undo decades of media-reinforced acceptable body standards is to have your body wash pour from something that has the same hipline as you.
The official statement from Dove on their limited edition bottles is:
Every woman’s version of beauty is different and, if you ask us, these differences are there to be celebrated. That’s what real beauty is all about – the unique things that set us apart from each other and make us one of a kind. We’ve championed this version of beauty for the past 60 years, and celebrated diverse women in our groundbreaking real beauty campaigns. But we wanted to bring this to life through our products, too. That’s why we’ve created a limited edition range of Dove Body Washes, designed to show how beauty is diverse and diversity is beautiful.
Obviously, Twitter went into overdrive on this:
What happens if you use the wrong @Dove bottle shape for your body type? Will the soap not fit me? Can I die?
— Caissie St.Onge (@Caissie) May 8, 2017
If she asks you to pick up Dove shampoo from the store, just know it's a trap. https://t.co/Or3o9toUPG
— Philip Lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 8, 2017
But why are all of the bottles still white
NOT WOKE ENOUGH, CAPITALISMhttps://t.co/EG0O5tpV26
— nom (@nomchompsky) May 8, 2017
.@dove I have arms please advise https://t.co/AycSUjLi0v
— rachel handler (@rachel_handler) May 8, 2017
What about those of us with a big hole inside, @Dove? Where is our body wash? pic.twitter.com/W7ZPXCjOT8
— Kelly Luce (@lucekel) May 8, 2017
I just want to wash, man. Why does everything gotta be so damn difficult? https://t.co/Nonxkxe6BP
— Morgan Jerkins (@MorganJerkins) May 8, 2017
DOVE SOLVED BODY SHAMING GUYS!!!!!!! IT'S OVER1!1!1!1 https://t.co/UsDIAofYG3
— rae paoletta (@PAYOLETTER) May 8, 2017
thanks Dove but I already have a body wash that matches my natural curves 🙂 pic.twitter.com/IIkKAn0LjQ
— Tim Federle (@TimFederle) May 8, 2017
The Atlantic does a good job of breaking down why this campaign fails. Basically they say that when it comes to products, uniformity is not only helpful in consumerism but people shouldn’t be divided for performing the same functions. I really want to like Dove’s Real Beauty campaign. I’ve been a Dove apologist since Real Beauty started in 2004 and I’m glad they haven’t given up but honestly, they’s had 13 years to do better and they just keep missing their mark. That said, I think I kind of get what they were trying to do here? If you watch the commercial for these bottles (below), the message they are promoting is that they want to “break the mold.” And that is what they did: they broke the standard plastic mold and made a variety of shapes as a symbolic gesture. Considering the money it would take to produce six additional bottle shapes, they really wanted to make a statement. I do see what is wrong with this idea but when I look at this as ‘breaking the mold’ instead of ‘wash with your body type’, I like it better. But honest to Christmas, how f–king hard would it be to grab some of these bottles in the shower, you know?
Photo credit: Dove
It’s a nice idea, I guess, but I wouldn’t want either of those roundish bottles…not as easy to grasp in the shower.
Why would anyone buy that short, round bottle? I can just imagine losing my grip on it and dropping it on my toe. From a consumer standpoint, I buying the bottle that’s easiest to hold.
This is just dumb. How did a room full of people think this was a good idea?
Because they think women are stupid and will buy anything. That’s why they make products that are pink and charge us more…women love pink right? Ughh.
It is a THIN line between being “woke” and pandering/patronizing…and it’s getting thinner and more blurred everyday. Right, Pepsi?
Eh, not really. This isn’t on the the line at all, as far as I’m concerned. Saying your body shape is the primary reflection of your identity, is pretty much the opposite of “woke” or “empowering.”
That’s my point. Corporations/marketing firms/celeb, even are becoming more and more obvious that they’re using social consciousness because being “woke” is “on trend,” another marketing tool (thus, “Right, Pepsi?”).
Dove is now falling down that slippery slope, “White is Purity,” but somehow “Beauty is Diversity.”
If you are teaching women to love their curves you’re implying they aren’t, in fact, lovable.
In the meantime, twitter wins.
that one with the hole in the middle will keep my raging ass in check today, every time i find my control slipping i shall recall that twit and laugh my self unconscious.
in terms of what they were aiming for, yeah…i get it….but they missed.
can we designate 2017 to be the year of “point missed”? it sure seems to be that way in every direction.
those twits are seriously my bitchbgone rx for today. sweet.
also: muwahahahahahahahaha “i have arms, please advise”. oh yeah, that is the vitriol busting formula i needed today. woop.
From the marketing firms that brought you Pepsi-solves-racisim and “White is Purity” comes “It’s time to be honest about your a$$ size, ladies.”
And who says that only entitled D-bags who couldn’t hack it in a real major go into marketing?
I don’t see a problem. Maybe I just have no energy left for these harmless things but … where is the issue? At least they try. They’re pretty much the only large brand that does. And did before the word “woke” ever appeared in our vernacular.
I stay away from Dove because I don’t like the scent and I’m no fan of palm oil but they really are harmless otherwise. Get rid of the cellulite creams and palm oil and I’ll take another look.
Except they also sell whitening-creams. Because body positivity. And they belong to the same concern that sells axe body spray. Because feminism. It´s all bullshit. All they want is the pretty penny.
Never seen the whitening cream, maybe it’s not available here. As for Unilever, they (Dove) have no control over that. If you hold every brand/company responsible for its parent, you will have to just wash with water.
They are the brand that brought us the add campaign that excluded and insulted women with the idea and slogan that only real women had curves. For ‘real’ women, they used plus sized models AND they distorted the scientific meaning behind the word ‘curves/curvy’ as it pertains to female bodies.
Due to their penicious campaign, you regularly see misuse of the word ‘curve’ AND any woman who isn’t plus sized is apparently not a woman and called out by stupid people.
Okay. I’m sure you guys apply those standards to every brand and grow your own food, make your own soap. Please. They aren’t perfect, they’re a business. And they want to sell products, not empower women. If you’re an educated consumer and are always keeping that in the back of your mind, you can take these ads for what they are. Let’s not pretend that they are responsible for sexism and body image issues. But they ARE a great deal better than, say, Nivea, who have – at least here – not ONCE used anyone besides a skinny white woman. Mostly blondes. Everything is terrible and offensive these days, good god.
This is stupid. Just another reminder that as women we are supposed to constantly think about our “body shape”.
OK I know the cashier better not look at me funny when I buy the tall thin one .#dontjudgeme
LOLLLL
Cashier: “Now, you know…”
Which shape do you think will end up in the discount pile? That pear shape one looks hard to hold. This is stupid. Can they do this for men too. Would love to see the shapes they come up with lol.
Does it still count if she acts “concerned” about your “health”?
I never used this product anyways. All my Bath and Body Works bottles are kind of wide and rectangular. Not my body shape. I never thought to compare a bottle to a body shape. Weird
I read about this the other day. What terrible idea. How drunk was the marketing team that came up with this winner? So ridiculous. It’s like the “jump to conclusions” mat from Office Space.
That’s funny. They tried to be woke and PC but involuntarily revealed sone truth and a dose of reality – the slender bottle with hourglass shape is the ideal and what women would like to choose.
Are men not allowed to use Dove bodywash? Why is it geared towards women? The smell is pretty neutral. Same as Special K cereal and every f*cking yogurt commercial. I guess men don’t eat those things? So stupid.
As someone with sensitivity to fragrance, i can tell you that dove products are heavily scented. Not neutral at all.
Really? I use dove bar soap every day…never noticed a strong scent. Maybe I’m just so used to it now.
The bar soap is pretty inoffensive, but the liquid stuff can be really strong.
I feel like the cashier would judge me and think “In your dreams are you that body wash shape.”
Being old and having RA in my hands, the bottle for my body ain’t gonna work.
I get the idea, still though. …
🙂
As I read through that official statement I just kept thinking ‘a man wrote this, a man wrote this’. It just seems like some guys got together in a room and came up with the idea that what women REALLY need is for their everyday household items to be a reflection of their body shape. It’s just absurd. I thimk a good test of whether something is sexist is to imagine it being done for the opposite sex…how would Dove go trying to make bottles in men’s sizes? People would be all WTF, and that’s how I feel about this rídiculous campaign.
Holy Annoyance, it’s still a heinous product full of toxins that kill people and aquatic life. Desperation used this sh*as the only available thing in commissary. Female, male, duck or alien, only uneducated people use this poison. Body acceptance doesn’t change this crap in a WhateverTF container.