Dove - Camera Shy

Off the back of the tremendous success of the Real Beauty Sketches, Dove has released the latest ad in their quest to reduce the self-esteem issues that women face.  The latest film, Camera Shy, was created by Ogilvy & Mather London asks the question; When did you stop thinking you were beautiful?  The film, which won Gold at Cannes, shows shows footage of  women of all ages desperately trying to hide from the camera, before ending with shots of pre-schoolers confidently parading and performing for the camera.  It ends with the line 'Be Your Beautiful Self.'
The film is growing in popularity, with nearly 17 million views to date, though that is a far cry from the nearly 150 million views that the Real Beauty Sketches video racked up.  I find the insight behind this video more compelling than Dove Real Beauty Sketches insight 'You are more beautiful than you think.'  Scientifically speaking that statement may actually be false.  This article from Scientific American sums it up quite nicely 'The evidence from psychological research suggests instead that we tend to think of our appearance in ways that are more flattering than are warranted. This seems to be part of a broader human tendency to see ourselves through rose colored glasses. Most of us think that we are better than we actually are — not just physically, but in every way.'

The article goes on to describe a series of studies in which 'researchers took pictures of study participants and, using a computerized procedure, produced more attractive and less attractive versions of those pictures. Participants were told that they would be presented with a series of images including their original picture and images modified from that picture. They were then asked to identify the unmodified picture. They tended to select an attractively enhanced one.'

Regardless they're both wonderful pieces of work that hopefully serve to help women to feel better about their self-image.




Posted by: Reuben Halper