Dove campaign takes off with ‘real women’ up on the boards

Colette Keane on an ad campaign using ‘real women’, not models

Lever Faberge decided to use realistic images of women following research carried out for its Dove firming moisturiser, which found most women feel bad about their bodies because of images projected in beauty advertising.

The ad campaign on billboards, TV and posters starts this week and features six real women of various heights and sizes in various pieces of dodgy white underwear. The first billboard unveiled a buxom woman in an old-fashioned harness of a bra alongside the slogan: 'New Dove Firming. As tested on real curves.' "We wanted to produce images of real women that were aspirational as well as being attainable without using models or airbrushing techniques," said Jo Riley, brand action manager for Dove Firming.