Wherein I Cry Foul on Dove’s Real Beauty Campaign
Those Dove commercials are pretty groundbreaking right? Especially since the point of the ads is to tell you it’s okay if you’re not skinny, just don’t have (gasp) wrinkles! In which case you should, you know, scoop up some firming creams. Unilever, as I mentioned last week, also makes Axe which has those allegedly spoofy sexist ads. With that in mind they definitely (snicker) speak to me as the voice of responsible advertising. But I’m surprised no one has mentioned Unilever is also a large purveyor of skin bleaching creams to Asian and African women. Because whiter skin is sexier, right? Oh, and skin bleaching creams? They’re often toxic.
Unilever’s idea of real beauty is it’s okay to be comfortable in your own skin, so long as that skin’s white and wrinkle-free, at the possible expense of your health.
As I was writing this, Shameless Magazine linked to an article talking about the Dove hypocrisy in more detail.
As far as I know, Unilever doesn’t make any of the toxic creams. Additionally, the company who bought Ben & Jerry’s also sells skin bleaching creams, which is why I steer clear of their delicious faux-lefty product, even on free ice cream day.
