I love the “Dove Campaign for Real Beauty“. This is the evolution ad that really shows what can be done if you spend enough time and effort with makeup hairstyling and photoshop.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U[/youtube]

I am most impressed how they have built a real community around this and how active the community is. It is an interesting look at how to create community. I took a look at the forums and I was floored to see the activity. Here is a quick idea of the numbers of people that have become involved in the site.

* Body Image Forum Message Count: 13,726
* Older Women Message Count: 1,014
* Unconventional Looks Forum Message Count: 2,183
* Self Esteem Forum Message Count: 11,124
* Thinks She’s Fat Message Count: 3,400
* Share Your Self-Esteem Building Story Message Count: 958
* My views on the pro·age™ TV commercial Message Count: 3,814
* Why I’m getting better all the time Message Count: 386

I think it is interesting that Dove really understood this and built a great community and tackled some big issues and broke thru the BS and got to a very real issues that people (women for the most part) could grab a hold of. I think that this movement (can I call it that yet) has really started to grab momentum. I hope that we can see this continue and change some of the things that contribute to image issues.
Taking Community off-line

They have also empowered people to make a difference in their own communities. They have built a kit for people to host “Real Beauty workshops”. Wow …great idea! There is a lot to be learned from this …

Cheers

Scott

PS …. this makes me want to write my article on Barbi the Tramp VS Dora the Explorer

Posted in Advertising ~ 4 Comments
Written by Scott

So I don’t really spend that much time in front of my TV. You would think that a large screen would be able to drag me away from my laptop …but most times it doesn’t. I have my usual shows that I like to watch …however these don’t include the latest hits like house or Lost ….I will have to buy the DVD’s of those and watch ….. I find myself watching alot of Discovery, A&E National Geographic …..and my new favorite show …..Ad Persuasion.

Ad Persuasion is an interesting look at some of the Ad’s that make up Pop culture. In a society that is ruled by the Tivo revolution ads have to be better then ever before. This program brings together some of the finest creative minds from around the globe and gets their commentary on them.

I find it interesting to listen to the discussion around the Ad’s and the psychology that is used to get the big idea across. If you are in the ad business this is a must watch for you.

cheers

scott

Posted in Advertising ~ 3 Comments
Written by Scott