The products we use and the brands we stay loyal to are chosen for a reason. We love how they feel, the price and the experience. But how often do we actually take the time to learn the background behind the brands we support?
Many companies are more than just the items they sell. They represent values, messages and impacts that reach far beyond the shelf.
The brand that sticks out to me? Dove. Yes, I am writing an article about a soap brand, but what they’re really about goes far beyond the body care aisle.
The company has built a reputation that consistently promotes self-confidence, body positivity and the idea of real beauty across all of its campaigns.
I have been a Dove lover for a while. I use their products every day: bar soap, body wash, shampoo, conditioner and deodorant. Even my loofa is Dove.
Like many of us who fall into the same product routine, there is really no thought behind the brand’s messaging. Why even find out if the products are working for us?
One day in my storytelling class, a Dove advertisement was shown as an example of what a good ad looks like: great storytelling, emotional impact and a valuable message.
That advertisement got me thinking. I had always loved Dove because of the quality of their products, but now I was realizing they stood for something bigger. The positive messaging convinced me this is a brand everyone should stand behind, not just buy from.
Yes, there are other brands out there with positive messaging and uplifting campaigns, but body care companies that truly support women of every shape, size and color are still surprisingly hard to find in the beauty industry.
The beauty standard that many brands rely on is rooted in fixing flaws. Covering imperfections, smoothing skin, shrinking bodies. The message behind brands is often subtle but clear: you need our products to make yourself more beautiful.
Dove, however, highlights something totally different. Instead of encouraging women to fix themselves with their products, Dove
encourages them to see themselves differently in the first place.
The advertisement my class watched that day was Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” campaign. In the advertisement, real women were asked to describe themselves to an FBI forensics artist who drew a portrait of them based solely on their words.
Later, a stranger was asked to describe the same woman and the artist created a second portrait.
The difference between the two drawings was drastic. The women’s self-descriptions were often far more critical, while the strangers’ descriptions revealed softer, kinder and more accurate representations of themselves.
The campaign delivered a powerful message: women tend to see themselves through the lens of insecurity, while others see their beauty more clearly.
“It proved exactly what we suspected: that you’re more beautiful than you think,” Dove stated on its website. “So to help inspire the millions of women around the world who don’t see their own beauty, we created a film showing the women’s reactions to their portraits, and the impact of their refreshed view of themselves.”
What is most striking about the advertisement is that you would never know Dove created it until the end of the video.
And that’s what sets them apart. Their ads are not just meant to showcase their products but to shine light on what it means to be a woman in a world filled with unrealistic expectations.
Just as impactful, a lot of their ads target young girls as well.
In Super Bowl LX, they created an advertisement titled “The Game is Ours.” It opens with a girl looking in the mirror alongside the message: “One in two girls who quit sports are criticized for their body type.”
From there, the ad shifts into a montage of girls joyfully playing sports — basketball, swimming, football — with the declaration “But our joy is louder.” The campaign isn’t just about sports; it’s about encouraging girls to focus on what their bodies can do rather than how they look.
What makes campaigns like this so powerful is that Dove is reaching girls in times when insecurity can easily take over. So much of the beauty industry teaches women at a young age to criticize their bodies, compare themselves and believe that confidence is something they have to earn by looking a certain way.
Dove flips that message around. Instead of telling girls they need to change, Dove reminds them that they deserve to feel comfortable in their skin just the way they are. That kind of advertising doesn’t just sell soap; it challenges the way society talks about beauty and gives young women permission to see themselves with more kindness.
So yes, this article is about Dove, a brand known for selling soaps and body care products. But it is not about what they’re
selling, it’s about the messaging they’ve built over the years. The way they encourage girls and women to see themselves with more kindness and confidence.
They are setting the benchmark for other brands too, pushing the message that companies can be profitable while also being socially conscious, inclusive and empowering, making their impact go far beyond the body care aisle.
