I think that the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty really gives a hard impact to the viewer. It leaves them with something that they can remember. After seeing the video and the before and after images of the model, I think that the Dove Campaign is being very genuine towards promoting the “true beauty” of someone. It reveals the effects that a company uses to make an advertisement. By doing this, the viewers should come to an understanding that everything in the advertisements and magazines are not the true appearance. With extreme makeovers from makeup, lighting, Photoshop, and more, a normal person can be on the page of a magazine too. Dove gave the viewers the insight that everyone has is beautiful and that only the effects behind the scenes of advertising made celebrities look even better.
I think the Axe Effect Campaign is the opposite of the Dove Campaign. I think it is over exaggerated like the advertisements in the 50s and 60s. The video of their commercial made me disgusted. Is it really appropriate? To me, I think that the ad is inappropriate since not all girls would even like the smell of Axe. In grade three or four that the guys in my class would always spray Axe excessively. I think one reason for them to do this is because they think it was “cool” to use it. It definitely wasn’t about girls at that time. After seeing the video, I think that the Axe Campaign over exaggerate the effect of their product. Well using the analogy that Dove and Axe are ‘siblings’ under the same ‘parent,’ I think that it’s not very surprising that the two are promoting opposite things but I do think that the parent company should take responsibility. Siblings aren’t exactly the same; they may have opposite personalities but they have the same care under the same parent. Therefore, I think that the parent company should promote the same cause but the two campaigns should just promote it in a different way. For example, if Dove promoted “real beauty” for girls, maybe Axe should promote “real beauty” for guys by using natural body spray. Even if the two campaigns are different, they should not be polar opposites like these two. The difference between Dove and Axe are to such an extent that it's unbelievable that they are from the same parent company. It is confusing for the viewers to know which of the two points they are really promoting – natural beauty or artificial body spray with illusory results? I think they could have different types of things they advertise but they should be more or less at the same topic.
1 comments:
What a great an insightful post Karen!
I agree with you: Dove's Campaign has a great effect on the viewer. I find that it helps viewers to feel both less insecure because they see the effect image manipulation has on our sense of beauty, but I also think it gives confidence because it makes viewers think that they too are beautiful.
The ad you showed of Axe helps to prove your point about Axe being overexaggerated. I agree with you: most people find the overbearing smell of Axe offensive, not attractive, and the commercials are plain inappropriate, especially for younger viewers. If I were a parent, I would not want my child to see an Axe campaign ad.
You brought up an interesting point about "sibling companies". Siblings don't have the same personality, true, just like how they don't have the same last name. However, they share the same last name, so they should be related to each other! I think your idea about Axe promoting real beauty for guys is great, and I think it would be a succesful market move because people usually do not focus on the effects the media has on males.
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