We couldn’t help but share this photo, which is making its rounds online again. When you see the dichotomy of these two images, side-by-side, it magnifies the approach that both Victoria’s Secret and Dove are taking with their respective advertising campaigns. But, as similar as the images may appear to be at face value, their messages couldn’t be more different.
Where Victoria’s Secret is focused on fantasy, the Dove ad shows a truer reality. Is one ad more effective than the other? We’re not so sure we’re buying the messages that either of them are selling, but given the over sexualization of women in advertising, Dove’s ad certainly offers a refreshing and unique approach.
While all women aspire to or fantasize about having the perfect body, none of us is actually perfect, but we continually work at it. If Victoria’s Secret thinks their picture is doing women justice, then they should fire their advertising firm. The women in this ad are just too, too thin – almost anorexic. I do not think most women want to be that thin. The Dove ad is definitely more realistic. The Dove models look more like the average woman. This ad is telling women it is OK to be who you are.
JA
I’m not as “Mr. Salty The Pretzel Man” stick thin like the ladies in the top photo, nor am I as curvy as the ladies in the bottom photo, so in my personal reality I cannot relate to either ad from a body type perspective.
To me, both images are way too homogenous of one particular body type. It would better serve both brands and the women they market to, to mix up the models they use and at least show some variety… thin, average, athletic, curvy. That would be a MUCH TRUER REALITY!
It also wouldn’t hurt them to throw some small chested girls in there too… we are ALWAYS underrepresented in everything!
Leah
You know, I agree, I’m not sure what either one is selling, but it would be awesome if all ads had two pictures, the “model” version and then the “real woman” version. The girls in the Dove ad look healthy and normally sized next to the ones in the VS ad. I wonder if society’s perception of beauty would change if they saw a “side by side” every time. I was on a bridesmaid dress site recently and the pictures were Photoshopped so poorly that the models’ heads looked wider than their waists. I kept thinking, how on earth can any normal person fit into these dresses?! I appreciate what Dove is trying to do, but agree with the above statement, more body types need to be represented.
