Looks Like I’m Not Alone in my Reaction to Onslaught
Thursday, October 11th, 2007When I wrote this post last week about my reaction to the latest Dove film, Onslaught, it seemed most everyone was praising it without hesitation. But I couldn’t.
While I respect the goal, the execution is south of the credibility line for me because I simply can’t separate Dove from Unilever and its many brands that perpetuate the beauty-is-everything stereotypes that are the core of the Onslaught message.
In the days since its launch, praise continues, but many have tempered it in the same breath…balancing praise with mention of the hypocrisy of the situation Dove finds itself in. From Bob Garfield’s AdAge review where he gives Onslaught a standing ovations but then goes on to say “Damn, if it just weren’t for the nagging hypocrisy of it all…. “What happens when Dove sales begin to flag and market share begins to slide? That will be the test of true righteousness. Does the “Campaign for Real Beauty” then get disposed of, like last year’s fashions, or dubiously “enhanced,” like a pair of fake breasts?” (Be sure to read the comments.) To this post from Stephanie Sage Smirnov of DeVries Public Relations. And this one by Danny G at one of my favorite blogs AdPulp. And there are more and more of this ilk daily.
In Wednesday’s LA Times there’s a story of a consumer group that has charged Unilever with hypocrisy “for running conflicting advertising campaigns — one for Dove that praises women and their natural beauty and one for Axe that the group said “blatantly objectifies and degrades” them. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood launched a letter-writing effort on its website and demanded that the company pull ads for the Axe line of grooming products for men, which one online pitch says makes ‘nice girls turn naughty.’ ”
So I’m most assuredly not alone in the reaction I had when I viewed the new film. But at the same time I feel a bit schizophrenic because I admire brands that take the risk to stand for something meaningful. I wish more had the guts. Yet I (and others) am calling them out for doing just that.
The reality is that putting a firm stake in the ground in a situation where you’re not pristine means you have to be prepared to deal honestly and openly with a whole different kind of onslaught…today’s technology-enabled, consumer-empowered world. And be able to deal with question about your motives AND the inconsistent behavior of those you are affiliated with. It’s a challenge AND an opportunity. Will they be up to the task? I guess time will tell.
