Update: Dove sent the following statement to Gawker:
"We believe that real beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, colors and ages and are committed to featuring realistic and attainable images of beauty in all our advertising. We are also dedicated to educating and encouraging all women and girls to build a positive relationship with beauty, to help raise self-esteem and to enable them to realize their full potential.
The ad is intended to illustrate the benefits of using Dove VisibleCare Body Wash, by making skin visibly more beautiful in just one week. All three women are intended to demonstrate the "after" product benefit. We do not condone any activity or imagery that intentionally insults any audience."
Previously: Now making the internet rounds: a new, supposed Dove ad called out for connoting an underlying bias. (Editor's note: Dove hasn't taken responsibility for the promotion, although commenters on various sites recount seeing it in magazines.)
Via Copyranter, comes the image for the brand's VisibleCare body wash, showing three women -- one black, one possibly Latina and one white -- standing in front of "before" and "after" images. Copyranter's takeaway: "Dove body wash turns Black Women into Latino Women into White Women." Jezebel refers to it as "unintentionally(?) racist,"adding, "Bye-bye black skin, hello white skin! (Scrub hard!)"
If this advertisement proves real, it wouldn't be the first time Dove's practices have been questioned.
Last summer, someone affiliated with the beauty giant put up a casting notice for Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign, looking for naturally fit, not too curvy and not too athletic women. Like, really? Dove quickly distanced itself from the posting, telling StyleList the notice "was not approved by the brand or agency team and did not reflect the spirit of the brand team's vision....We believe our images demonstrate that real beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, colors and ages and we remain committed to featuring realistic and attainable images of beauty in all our advertising."
