Beauty in the eye of the art director

[hel_ana]

At Dove's campaign for real beauty, you can watch a timelapse video of the transformation of the woman on the left to the woman on the right. (Flash required)



The same video at youtube.com

Comments

[the-nita.livejournal.com]

It's interesting.

I still have huge trepidation at the whole Dove campaign for real beauty thing - they're still selling "beauty products".

It's a lot like Phillip Morris talking about how much smoking harms people to me..

[hel_ana]

Agreed on that, definitely.

OTOH, if they're willing to spend money on the problem I'm ok with that.

[the-nita.livejournal.com]

Okay - I keep my skepticism in some level - after listening to a CBC report on "pink marketing" (how corporate fundraising for breast cancer research isn't so much about money going to research, but a way to keep customers with a certain brand), I have a reinforced twitchiness when companies do "good" for no reason. Especially when it goes against their own interests. (Then again, getting raised by a marketing guru and learning at his feet will warp your viewing of advertising anyway).

[hel_ana]

I can think of a few scenarios:

1) they fear a backlash in which women get so disillusioned by the image being sold that they figure there's no point in trying, and stop buying.

2) someone high up in the Dove corporate structure had a family member go through anorexia or bulimia

[the-nita.livejournal.com]

I can't see number one happening any time soon, sadly. That whole, "No one ever went broke underestimating" thing.

[hel_ana]

True, that.

[treetracer]

What's most disheartening is that the image on the right isn't even the "final" image; the computer is used to manip her features before they put the image on a billboard. If you're going to go that far, why bother with a human model at all? Just go straight CG and you wouldn't have to pay the model, makeup artists, computer people, etc.

[hel_ana]

You know, looking at it again, you're right -- I'd thought that the image on the right was the final, but it's not.