Continuing its “Real Beauty” slogan, Dove has turned the tables on the popular Mannequin Challenge with a call to clothing stores to make their mannequins more diverse.
“The Mannequin Challenge has taken over social media and it brought up an important question: Why do actual mannequins rarely represent our diverse bodies?” According to Dove’s YouTube page, “Dove decided to create our own Mannequin Challenge… with a twist! Watch to see how we celebrate beauty of all ages, ethnicities, shapes and sizes”.
“Dove always strives to reassure women that they needn’t feel anxious about their beauty,” Andre Laurentino, global ecd at Ogilvy & Mather London, which developed the campaign, tells Adweek. “When we saw everyone doing the Mannequin Challenge, we thought, ‘Why haven’t we ever seen a mannequin that looks like us?’ This seemed like the perfect opportunity to connect Dove’s point of view with a current conversation.”
“This is a lighthearted way of reminding us that there are many shapes, colors and sizes to real beauty,” Laurentino said. “The messages which influence how we perceive our bodies are everywhere, whether we notice them or not. So, we decided to use the opportunity, join the phenomenon, and have fun making our own Mannequin Challenge video—with a slight spin on it.”
“The hardest part? Not blinking,” Laurentino recalled. “It took ages to get a shot where nobody blinked. And when we finally got one, someone walked past the store in the background right at the end. We were back to square one. But we got it eventually. The take we used is number 33.”
CREDITS
Client: Dove
Agency: Ogilvy London
Unilever Global ECD: Andre Laurentino
Dove Global Creative Director: Gerald Lewis
Creative Team: Rachel Miles & Michael Tsim
Producer: Jo Charlesworth
Global Business Partner: Sam Pierce
Account Manager: Carmen Vicente Soto
The Smalls Production Co.:
Director: Tom Grost
Producer: Angelica Riccardi
Producer: Fred Bonham Carter
DoP: Simon Plunket
Dove Masterbrand Client:
Global Vice President, Dove Masterbrand: Sophie Galvani
