Dove Real Beauty Sketches

Today I came across an intriguing, advert whilst browsing youtube - from Dove. I'm sure everyone is aware of Dove's real beauty campaign, trying to promote that women aren't perfect, and that ,well, everyone is beautiful really.

© Dove

And today I found their new advert:

In the  advert, an FBI trained forensic artist sits behind a curtain and draws a portrait from the subject’s self-description, then he  draws a second portrait of the same women using only the descriptions of strangers, which results in a much softer and dramatically different more realistic picture.

The advert has actually come under fire and caused a lot of controversy in the media, critics have said it simply encourages women to care about what other people think about them. Really it is doing nothing different than its predecessors in the capacity that it is still objectifying women. Similarly, we have to remember that this is an advert, and Dove are still trying to sell us some soap or deodorant. When it comes down to it we can't simply take this message at face value.

All this being said, I must admit I still do love the ad. I think it really rings true with how we see ourselves overly critically and will often blow our perceived flaws way out of proportion in our self deprecation. Advert or not, the message is a powerful one, and it is undeniable that we are our own worst critics.