Text Response 3

The Power a Brand Can Have On Consumers

Have you ever stood in an aisle of a store contemplating about which brand name product to buy? I'm guessing many of you have, including me. After reading Rob Walker's magazine column, "Social Lubricant: How a Marketing Campaign Became the Catalyst for a Societal Debate" i'd have to say that we buy certain brands because we appreciate what that brand represents as well as the message they are sending to their consumers.

Dove beauty products, for example are brand name products primarily selling to women because of the message they are sending to women of all ages, sizes, and colors. In order for Dove to successfully advertise their products they need to photograph models to place on billboards, television commercials, magazine covers, and etc., but not the kind of models you're used to seeing. The Dove Girls being photographed look like everyday women. Some have stretch marks or chubby tummies, while others have wrinkles or tattoos. Dove uses everyday women to portray "real beauty" rather than unrealistic, photo-shopped beauty, and it sells!

I myself use Dove deodorants and Dove body washes for two reasons. The first reason is because i love the smell of it, and the second reason is because i also appreciate the message being sent to their consumers. Rob Walker’s, "Social Lubricant: How a Marketing Company Became the Catalyst for a Societal Debate" discusses the debate between whether or not the advertisements of the Dove Girls are positive for portraying images of real women or negative due to the fact that the women are advertising the brand's products in their underwear.

Throughout the column Walker explains that the images are challenging the stereotype that being thin is beautiful, and further examines the possibility that people will turn to marketers for guidance on how to help get rid of anxiety issues that were placed in their heads by the marketers themselves. Marketers know the power they possess over us, and use it to their advantage. Dove's firming lotion, for example contradicts the message it sends to women. The whole point of the Dove Girls is to portray images of confident women of all colors, ages, and sizes who are comfortable in their own skin, not advertise products such as firming lotion to help tighten up loose skin.

In my opinion, the images are still positive because they are promoting women to have confidence within their own bodies, which is a good start. On the other hand, producing products such as firming lotion contradicts the message Dove is sending to women. Overall, i don't completely blame the brand Dove because they are just meeting the demands of an insecure population. Whatever corporation planted insecurities in to the population's minds is to blame. If there were more corporations like Dove, people would eventually feel less obligated to look a certain way because they would be appreciating the real women Dove is advertising, which would give them reassurance that it’s okay to be have wrinkles, stretch marks, and/or tattoos. Having that reassurance helps women to accept themselves for who they are and their bodies for what they are. This will help them realize that they don’t need firming lotion or anti-aging products to be beautiful, which will then decrease the production and distribution of these products, and lead us to a world where marketing will have less of a say about what should and shouldn't be consider beautiful. 

References

Messenger, Erica, John Gooch, and Dorothy U. Seyler. Argument! United States of America: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2011. Print.