Tag: Beauty standards

London, United Kingdom – Dove, the personal care brand under Unilever, has announced a commitment to never use AI-generated images to portray distorted perceptions of women’s beauty, and instead putting focus on real women portrayals in its ads as part of the brand’s commitment to portray authenticity–and with the brand recently celebrating its 20th year anniversary.

Dove notes that one of the biggest threats to the representation of real beauty is Artificial Intelligence. Today, almost 9 in 10 women and girls say they have been exposed to harmful beauty content online.

In addition, With 90% of the content online predicted to be AI-generated by 2025, the rise of AI is a threat to women’s wellbeing: nearly half feel pressure to alter their appearance because of what they see online, even when they know it’s fake or AI-generated.

With this in mind, Dove will accelerate its efforts to champion transparency and diversity and take action to shatter beauty stereotypes in new and emerging media. Dove is renewing its vows to protect real beauty – committing to never using AI to represent real women in its ads. 

Moreover, to help set new digital standards of representation, Dove will create the Real Beauty Prompt Guidelines, easy to use guidance for everyone on how to create images that are representative of Real Beauty on the most popular generative AI programs.

Alessandro Manfredi, chief marketing officer at Dove, said, “At Dove, we seek a future in which women get to decide and declare what real beauty looks like – not algorithms. As we navigate the opportunities and challenges that come with new and emerging technology, we remain committed to protect, celebrate, and champion Real Beauty. Pledging to never use AI in our communications is just one step. We will not stop until beauty is a source of happiness, not anxiety, for every woman and girl.”

Dove’s new campaign, the Code, reflects the impact of AI on beauty and demonstrates the impact real beauty has made to change beauty for the better, 20 years and counting. It also stems from its initial research in 2004, where they found that 2% of women considered themselves beautiful. 

Since then, the ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’ has challenged society, media and the beauty industry itself to change its representation of women, be transparent about digital distortion and face-up to the harmful impact unrealistic beauty standards have on women and girls.

Moreover, in its ‘2024 The Real State of Beauty: a global report,’ Dove finds 2-in-5 would give up a year of their life to achieve an ideal look or body. The study shows that while beauty ideals have diversified over the years, the checklist is growing and impossible to meet – from looking healthy (79%) to also being slim (71%), having a small waist (66%) while also being curvy (55%). 2 in 3 women believe that women today are expected to be more physically attractive than their mother’s generation was.

Hong Kong – Beauty standards have long been the subject of various strict opinions about what constitutes being ‘beautiful’. In the case of women across China, data from Sina China shows that six out of ten females in China say they lack confidence in their appearance and feel anxious about how others may perceive them if they don’t fit into what is considered to be normal.

Foraying into this societal dilemma of setting up beauty standards, the China arm of global beauty brand Olay recently launched a new campaign, titled ‘No Fear of Judgement, My Own Beauty’ which centers around the brand’s vision to empower women to express beauty in their own way by stating that beauty has many faces and should not be defined by social standards

Said campaign is leveraged by La Mu Yang Zi, a Chinese actress who is not usually seen as conforming to the traditional definition of beauty. In the film, she questions: “If I want to see it for myself-which face would I choose?” After contemplating the changes, she then tells her personal story of how she deals with social judgement and chooses her own appearance – a message the brand believes will resonate with women in China.

The campaign was conceptualized by the team at Grey Hong Kong, and is the first part of a series under Olay China’s newly launched brand idea ‘Pursuit of Fearless’.

“This is a time we think it is necessary to walk further with Chinese women on the journey to becoming fearless,” said Hyoeun Kim, vice president of P&G Greater China, Skin Care – Olay.

Meanwhile, Duffy Lau, general manager at Grey Hong Kong, commented that they will continue to tell heartfelt stories to consumers and make Olay a meaningful brand.

Apart from the film, which is released on several online platforms including Dou Yin, Weibo & WeChat, Olay has also teamed up with the Xiao Kou Stand-up comedy show inviting Yang Li, a famous female comedian, to talk candidly about facial anxiety. More celebrities and actresses, key opinion leaders (KOLs), writers and bloggers, were also featured in this movement.

“It was rewarding working with the brand team to create a campaign that will help women to gain confidence in how they perceive their own standard of beauty,” added Joe Yue, creative partner at Grey Hong Kong.

Singapore – Consumer brands behemoth Unilever, with a vast portfolio of beauty and wellness products, has just unveiled the great strides it has recently taken for its communications and advocacy. 

Unilever has always been dedicated to its global commitment to positive beauty, and its Philippine leg has just launched its contribution to the advocacy – one that not just aims to innovate its engagement to consumers but one that seeks to uplift common beauty standards. 

The new MANifesto.PH is Unilever Philippines’ online publication that focuses on men’s care, providing practical tips and advice on grooming, wellness, and other male concerns. The digital destination aims to encourage men to take better care of their skin, hair, and overall health. While beauty and everything related to the concept and practice of it is oftentimes anchored to women, the new platform is serving as a great step towards making grooming and wellness more inclusive. 

MANifesto.PH

The new content hub was created with content marketing agency Green Park Content (GPC). Francis Almirante, Unilever Philippines’ digital transformation manager for beauty and personal care, comments on GPC’s work, “GPC is a thought leader in SEO and content – they have a keen understanding of how search intent can dictate strategic paths for our brands to influence consumer behavior.

MANifesto.PH is part of the overall latest online publication by the Philippine arm, BeautyHub.PH. The main online portal is likewise developed by GPC. 

BeautyHub.PH

With a dedicated goal to push the inclusivity of beauty forward, BeautyHub.PH is positioned to become a one-stop destination for all beauty advice and inspiration for people of all colors, shapes, and sizes. It eyes to champion equal representation with content to shine light on every skin tone, age group, hair needs, and body type, and amplifying the conversation on physical appearances that are continued to be stigmatized, such as stretch marks and dark skin.    

“We’re proud to have this incredible opportunity to produce Unilever Philippines’ brand-new content platform. BeautyHub.PH will bridge between Unilever’s products and its audiences through insightful storytelling that delivers value and promotes inclusivity and diversity,” said GPC Asia Managing Director Marcelo Bittencourt.

GPC, a global agency that opened its first office in the region in 2017, worked on BeautyHub.PH and MANifesto.PH for over a year, with the scope of work including strategy, branding, UX and UI design, content strategy, SEO, and editorial content creation. 

Creative & Brand Strategy Director for GPC APAC, Fe Husaint, said, “GPC is privileged to help Unilever deliver this purposeful project to shape a world that champions inclusivity & diversity. So we are proud to work on the brand identity and communication strategy for BeautyHub.PH.”

BeautyHub.PH and MANifesto.PH represents a move by Unilever towards brand publishing, using SEO-driven editorial and content. Both hubs aim to help customers in their search journey, making Unilever personal care brands have greater discoverability using the power of search. In true magazine and brand publishing style, all content is intent-led, with the brands woven seamlessly into the narrative.