More reactions
From the Miami Herald:
Gina Crisanti was taking out the trash at work one day when a stranger approached her with an odd request. It was a talent scout who wanted her to try out for an ad campaign to sell Dove beauty products -- wearing nothing but her underwear.
The offer was puzzling to say the least. Crisanti, a 24-year-old cafe worker, has never thought of herself as anywhere near supermodel stature -- curvy and closer to five feet than six.
But that, it turns out, is the point. Crisanti and five other ''real'' women -- ranging from size 6 to 14 -- are the stars of a Dove ad campaign that shows them wearing only bras, panties and big smiles on billboards, bus stops and trains in Chicago, New York, and other big cities....
The ads, the second phase of a campaign launched last September for Unilever's Dove, have served as a source of both inspiration and ridicule.
The ads are designed to sell products from Dove's firming collection -- lotions and creams meant to reduce the appearance of cellulite with slogans like, ``Let's face it, firming the thighs of a size 2 supermodel is no challenge.''
Some find it strange that the ads aim to profit from altering the same curves the campaign celebrates....
The ads can be a touchy subject -- as witnessed by a Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper after he characterized the women as ''chunky.'' He was bombarded with hate mail from about a thousand readers. Some called Roeper an ''idiot,'' ''Neanderthal,'' and ''sexist loser'' -- quotes he included in a follow-up column explaining his original comments.
Salon.com columnist Rebecca Traister's reaction to the campaign was sharper than Roeper's: ''Yes, when I think of putting beauty in perspective for girls, mostly I think of suggesting that they shell out for three separately sold products that will temporarily make it appear that they have less cellulite,'' she wrote sarcastically....
While it isn't the first time that full-bodied women have been depicted in ads, the campaign has caught the attention of counselors and social workers who deal with eating disorders and other body-image issues, along with those in the business of selling products.
''Competitors will watch very carefully to see if they did tap into something,'' said Tom Collinger, a professor of integrated marketing communications at Northwestern University....
For more reaction, see this excellent summary from caffeinegoddess.
Incidentally, for those complaining that the ads are only showing real WOMEN, kgeiger has posted these pictures of "soft Dove admen from Ogilvy Düsseldorf."
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