Dove has hit a nerve with women everywhere after releasing a series of body washes which come in different shapes to portray the ‘diversity of their bodies’.
The six limited-edition bottles are the latest instalment in the brand’s long-running ‘Real Beauty’ campaign.
But it’s fallen short of the mark, with many confused about why Dove would want to try and categorise women’s bodies into body wash bottles - especially coming from a company that’s “objectification-conscious”.
“Because being body positive means dividing women up by how their bodies are shaped?” tweeted Doha Madani. “Dove really missed the mark on this one.”
In a statement about its new range, Dove said: “Each bottle evokes the shapes, sizes, curves and edges that combine to make every woman their very own limited edition.
“They’re one of a kind - just like you. But sometimes we all need reminding of that. Recent research from the Dove Global Beauty and Confidence Report revealed that one in two women feels social media puts pressure on them to look a certain way. Thankfully, many women are fighting with us to spread beauty confidence.”
The brand has championed natural beauty in various campaigns over the years, some of which divided public opinion. Its latest is no exception.
While some said they loved the idea...
Most people weren’t keen...
After the outrage, came the inevitable internet humour...
A spokesperson for Dove told HuffPost UK: “Dove celebrates real women of all ages, shapes, sizes, and ethnicities in our campaigns. We use real women in all our campaigns because they represent the real beauty diversity in society.
“We wanted to take this a step further into the products themselves and have a bit of fun with them. The custom bottles of different shapes and sizes reflect the beauty in diversity through visual representation and are designed to spark a lively debate and discussion about what real beauty means.
“That’s something we’ve always encourages as a brand. We take women’s beauty confidence very seriously and through the Dove Self-Esteem Project we have reached more than 20 million young people with body confidence education, and we aim to reach 20 million more by 2020.”