Last month, a fairly well-loved brand attempted a marketing move that warranted some negative feedback and ultimately stopped the ad campaign from happening. Dove, creator of the “Real Beauty” campaign, might have taken the all-natural approach a little too far.
Here is the message that Dove had planned to relay to New Jersey women in the form of a billboard:
“Dear New Jersey, When people call you ‘The Armpit of America,’ take it as a compliment. Sincerely, Dove.”
Unfortunately, New Jerseyeans did not see this message in a beautiful light. Instead women from all over the state took to Facebook to tell Dove they thought the campaign stunk and many promised to boycott Dove products altogether. In response, the company made this post “We did not wish to cause any misunderstanding and apologize for any offense. Our intent with the ‘Dear New Jersey’ billboard, which was one of many ads for our campaign, was to call attention to the fact that armpits can and should be considered beautiful and ask women everywhere to accept this as something that is okay.”
Instead of going through with the ad, Dove donated the billboard space to a charity.
Obviously, this bold move made by Dove didn’t pay off. The marketing strategy even ended up hurting the company’s reputation in the area. How would you feel about being compared to an armpit? We want to know! Check out the full proposed ad here.
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