3; Take the Axe to the Dove! (...That's a little brutal, Caitlin)

1) The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is great. They advertise pro-feminism outwardly which creates a good name for Dove, but I noticed that the encouragement of their products is a lot more subtle. Sneaky, huh? Anyway, I do believe that this (for whatever reason that Dove started this campaign: more money or helping little girls everywhere) is really a win-win situation. A clever way to promote their company positively. I think more programs and campaigns like this should be created to positively encourage and target everyone in society.

2)  "How on earth did they get that many women? ...Gosh, how many pairs of bikinis did they need for that shoot?!"

Really, that's all that comes to my mind when I watch this... I love Axe commercials. I think that they're really funny, not to mention, really effective. They tell us all what goes on in the mind of the average man, am I right? ;) 

But it's a little upsetting that the main message of Axe is:

'Getting the girl has never been easier, thanks to the Axe effect. As devoted users know, women can’t resist anyone wearing those great fragrances!' 

Yeah, I got that from Unilever's website. Axe has a lot of clever advertisements. It's a shame to see that their talent is used in a way to promote anti-feminism...

3) If someone had told me that Dove and Axe were owned by the same company, I never would have believed it! That two seemingly opposite companies - one, creating a campaign to promote natural beauty and self-confidence in women; the other, completely exploiting women for their product - are run by Unilever (and to top it off, they were listed as one of 2009s most ethical companies?). I'm sorry, but it feels dishonest in my opinion. Why did Dove run the campaign in the first place? Was the purpose solely for helping girls and women be free of the media? Or was it just another sneaky campaign to promote their products? Knowing that Dove and Axe come from the same company just makes me think that Dove is only doing it to promote their products. I might sound a little cynical, but it seems as if Unilever and its children are great at doing what they do: manipulating women to sell their products.

Look at this picture. DON'T YOU JUST LOVE IT? ;D

Now that's real beauty.