Your Russell Davies link just comes back to noahbrier.com. Is that how you made it to the front page on Google? (Just kidding ... congrats on that, I'm proud of your noahness ... it's not likely any of this would have happened if we'd gone with my first choice, Paul :)

Moment of silence....I love you!

Fixed the link . . . and thanks for not naming me Paul . . . definitely wouldn't have worked out as well.

It's a Noah lovefest.

the user-created commercial for the Dove campaign was aired during the Oscars last night. This lady introduced it, and the whole thing just felt...weird. The commercial was cute, i guess, but the whole intro-by-random-lady thing felt very talkshowy and uncool.

I know that the Dove campaign has been praised by just about everyone there is, but as a female consumer, I don't really like it. And it doesn't make me want to buy Dove. Since these are "real" women, are other women supposed to aspire to look like them? What if you already look better? Then you don't need Dove, right?

I know everyone hates the beauty and fashion industry, and how they mess with womens' self-confidence and everything, but even though i know buying some beauty product won't make me look like a model, it's the image of something to aspire to that motivates me to buy. Sad, but i guess that's how the human psyche works.

While the women in the Dove campaign are fairly okay looking, I don't really feel the need to compete with someone like that, or aspire to look like them, so I sort of dismiss the product that they're associated with.

But hey, maybe it's just me.

Amber, that's a very interesting point. If Dove's campaign was ultimately successful they would eliminate their own product from the market . . . People would no longer worry about loose skin or anything else . . .

Makes me wonder what other things Dove is doing to support this cause other than running an advertising campaign. Seems like they're just trying to change the conversation, not end it (which of course they are).

Need to give it some more though, but I really appreciate the thoughtful response.

Also, highly recommend checking out one of Grant's newer pieces on the Dove campaign and the end of the zero sum game.

i'm not going to lie - i've recently bought some dove soap strictly because of the ad campaign.

does that mean i might unknowingly aspire to be an average looking woman? hope not.

hahaha

That must be it. Or maybe you're jealous of your Wii doppleganger's perfect skin.

yes, that's exactly what it means Chet. and I'm not going to lie either - I'm concerned. ;)

Wow - Grant's piece, as well as the Virginia Postrel article it references, is really good. I do like and appreciate the fact that Dove is trying to change the conversation about beauty in our society, since it is such an issue, especially among impressionable young girls.

However, I have to agree with Virginia Postrel when she points out that our brains are sensitive to aesthetics, and we are predisposed to prefer a conventionally beautiful face over one that is less so. The cosmetics industry has been built around this predisposition, in addition to catering to often subconscious feelings like jealousy, inferiority, and aspiration.

I guess what I'm saying is that logic might tell me to buy Dove, because of it's efforts to make a change in the way we think about beauty, but my heart (and by heart i mean emotion and instinct) will always tell me that I like the brand with the gorgeous model better.

It's interesting that Dove chose a campaign that went against all of the psychological and emotional elements that make the average beauty product consumer tick - a campaign that essentially asks this consumer to make their brand decisions with their heads, and not their hearts.

I really agree with a l lot of that amber (except maybe your conclusion about my own beauty aspirations!)

One of my favorite books: "Survival of the Prettiest." Peep it. I would share it to you, but I once lent it to a pretty girl and she never gave it back.

Even though it says "Monday" on top, and it's tuesday and I was sick monday..I am responding today :) I really liked that article on the end of the zero sum game..very interesting. I I appreciate that Dove is trying to start the dialogue and change the concept of "beauty". Having a 9 year old niece I am really seeing how different things are now from when I was younger. The problem is that like amber said, i buy things because i aspire to be something else. I know that I am not a supermodel, but I will buy the cosmetics, shoes, purses, etc...that I see people I think are beautiful have. The women on the dove commercial are beatiful in their own ways, but I don't strive to be the "everyday beauty" , that campaign does not make me want to buy the product. I admit as a consumer that I buy into the dream that a lot of products sell....well these are just my thoughts with a 103 fever so they might not be that coherent :)

I think it's strange how everyone seems to think "oh, it's different from when we were kids." Is it?

I dunno. I seem to remember that being the 80s, when things were just as screwy as they are now, body-image wise, just with different details.