Dove is not claiming responsibility for a Craigslist ad than ran in New York calling for models that were both “real women” who also “must have flawless skin, no tattoos or scars.”
The Craigslist ad caused some controversy when gossip site Jezebel caught it over the weekend. But, Dove claimed today that the ad was not approved by the company itself, telling StyleList, “Unfortunately, this casting notice was not approved by the brand or agency team and did not reflect the spirit of the brand team’s vision. We appreciate that this has been brought to our attention, and we are taking the necessary steps to prevent this from happening in the future. We believe our images demonstrate that real beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, colors and ages and we remain committed to featuring realistic and attainable images of beauty in all our advertising.”
True, some past “Real Beauty” ads have featured tattooed women, but there haven’t been any that featured either the very overweight or the very skinny. People come in all shapes and sizes, and while many fall somewhere in the middle, not all do. As for scars? Well, they’re pretty anti-soap, right? It’s not like cosmetic companies have lied in the past, right?