Dove Contest Readies Real Women for Summer
Dove wants more real women for its ads. This time, it wants them tanned.
Unilever extends its Dove Campaign for Real Beauty with a contest that will put real women in a print ad for its Energy Glow self-tanning moisturizer.
The Dove Look Like Summer, Feel Like Summer essay contest will bring five winners to New York for a photo shoot for the ad, and give each person a summer trip to the destination of her choice.
Unilever has won accolades for featuring real women in its Dove advertising, and for using its Campaign for Real Beauty and the Dove Self-Esteem Fund to encourage healthy self-image for girls and young women. But the brand has been criticized, too, for putting “fat” women in its ads. Dove upped the ante earlier this week with a new “pro-age” marketing campaign that extends its “Real Beauty” positioning and targets women over 50 (PROMO Xtra, Feb. 12).
“People have been so supportive of the Dove campaign and are continuing to engage in dialog about real women,” said Kathy O’Brien, Dove marketing director, in a statement. “This contest provides another chance for women to participate in our campaign and share their voice.”
For the Energy Glow contest, women visit Doveglow.com to submit a 200-word essay about what summer means to them, and a photo of themselves in a summer setting. Entries are judged on creativity, written expression, sincerity and relevance of photo to the theme.
Winners will visit New York in mid-April for a photo shoot and $1,750 shopping spree, then choose from five destinations for a second trip: the Caribbean; an upscale spa; Nantucket; Aspen or Telluride, CO; or Napa Valley, CA.
The contest runs Feb. 12 through March 22. Winners will be announced in June, and appear in July issues of Glamour and Lucky.
Ryan Partnership, Westport, CT, handles the contest; Ogilvy, New York, is the ad agency behind the “Real Women” campaign.
Dove’s worldwide sales are nearly $3.3 billion a year, with double-digit growth, according to Unilever.
