Evidently, Dove Ask You to ‘Change One Thing’

By Erik Oster 

Last time we checked in with Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign it was for Ogilvy & Mather’s “Choose Beautiful” spot back in April, which saw the brand give women the option to walk through a door labeled “Beautiful” or one labeled “Average.” For the latest extension of the long-running campaign, the brand teamed up with creative content agency Evidently for “Change One Thing.”

The effort is built around a 60-second online spot which takes a slightly different approach to “Real Beauty,” as well as some inspiration from Leo Burnett’s recent efforts building confidence in adolescent girls for Always. “I wish I had straight hair,” says a girl at the start of the ad. As the spot progresses, teen and tween girls weigh in on the one thing they’d like to change about their looks. The footage is edited so that one girl’s wish usually leads into a girl who has that feature, but wants to change something else, like when one girl says she wishes she had freckles, which leads to a freckled girl saying she wishes she was taller, which in turn leads to a tall girl wishing she was shorter. You get the idea.

Up until now, Dove’s “Real Beauty” efforts have largely dealt with image issues faced by adult women. “Change One Thing” marks a departure from that, taking on the problems adolescent girls have with self-image and confidence. The ad ends without seeming to offer any real resolution or conclusion, apart from the message “Let’s change one thing. How girls see themselves,” relying mostly on the juxtaposition of each girl’s “one thing” to provide a “grass is always greener” type lesson. “Change One Thing” serves to promote the Dove Self-Esteem Project, which launched back in 2006 as an effort to help women and girls develop positive self-esteem. The brand recently teamed up with Pinterest for a social extension of the project, with a curated board of 80 pins designed to boost confidence in women and girls, with an emphasis on parents and teens. 

“Participants were selected based upon questionnaires they completed about their body confidence,” Dove brand director Jennifer Bremner told Adweek. “The girls featured in the film did not know about the ‘Change One Thing’ film concept in advance, so their reactions that you see in the film are genuine.” 

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