20 years ago, Dove showed the world what beauty looks like when it's real. In 2004, it began with a startling truth; only 2% of women globally considered themselves beautiful. Since then, Dove has been dedicated to taking action to make a positive experience with beauty accessible to everyone by challenging society, media and the beauty industry itself to widen its representation, be transparent about digital distortion, and face-up to the harmful impact unrealistic beauty standards have on women and girls. To mark 20 years of championing real beauty, Dove conducted a new sweeping study to understand the state of beauty around the world today. While there has been some positive change, two decades later, the state of beauty in 2024 isn't pretty.
Dove's Real Beauty campaign and 2004 research was a defining moment in its history, as it created a ‘lightning-in-a-bottle’ effect across the world. Two decades later, Dove celebrated 20 years of Real Beauty by launching our 'state of beauty' findings and changed the conversation through our evolved POV of autonomous beauty. A 360 US launch, including media outreach and celebrity partnerships, allowed Dove to successfully honor this key anniversary moment and help set new digital standards of representation. Dove once again set a new industry standard by being the first beauty brand to commit to never using AI in place of real people in its advertising as part of their long-standing commitment to real beauty.
To deliver the launch moment Dove reaffirmed its commitment to real beauty while modernizing Dove Equity, which propelled Dove into the cultural zeitgeist in a way that was seen by the masses. Through a social first approach we drove massive social conversation while securing quality press coverage across major outlets like TODAY Show, Byrdie, E! Online and People. Positive sentiment was driven by brand love and thanking Dove for bringing this topic to mainstream conversations to garner 141.1 MM social impressions. The brand infiltrated culture and created an interactive campaign that captivated audiences, evoked emotions, and sparked conversations that helped Dove create deep connections with consumers.
To help set new digital standards of representation, Dove has created the Real Beauty Prompt Guidelines - easy to use guidance on how to create images that are more representative of Real Beauty on the most popular generative AI programs, for anyone that chooses to explore this new technology. The Real Beauty Prompt Guideline was created to help limit bias for others who are already using AI. "\The new Dove campaign, The Code, reflects the impact of AI on beauty and sheds light on the importance of women having the power to see real beauty reflected in emerging media.
The campaign was also supported by an inspiring cast of empowering women across generations - singer and actor Reba McEntire, TV host, actress and entrepreneur, Drew Barrymore, actor, Beanie Feldstein, and actress and executive producer Marsai Martin, - who lend their voices and stories to raise awareness and celebrate real beauty. To kick off the launch event, celebrity partners shared their voices on Instagram and TikTok as a Collab with @Dove. To continue the conversation in the press and in person, Dove invited earned media and influencers to attend an event full of panels and interactive photo moments to cheers Dove’s celebration of 20 years of real beauty. This created a surge of coverage in the press and on social media that captured Dove’s stance and event in full. Dove then utilized brand voices to double down on their commitment to never use AI to replace real women in a humorous social video, facing off AI vs. Real Beauty.
Secured over 490+ pieces of coverage and garnered 3B+ media impressions across broadcast, online, and print in the US. The exclusive campaign debuted on the TODAY Show and was featured on Access Hollywood. Dove collaborated with celebrity talent Reba McEntire, Drew Barrymore, Beanie Feldstein, and Marsai Martin for a social first #KeepBeautyReal campaign & top tier press opportunities with outlets such as E! Online and People. To help us celebrate, over 160 top tier media, influencers, KOLs joined us for a star-studded event in NYC hosted by our special celebrity spokespeople.
