Victoria's Secret vs Dove Evolution! The Fight is on!

       Advertisements have reached many different lows when it comes the portrayl of women. However, the fallowing ad is one of the worst I have seen in a long time. The Victoria Secret company believes that a Michael Bay fantasy of women is enough to sell their bras.

 

            The television spot hit the air this year for the Victoria Secret Christmas collection. It was directed by Michael Bay, the well-known director of movies such as Transformers and Transformers 2. This commercial features slow motions gratuitous shots of large breasted, skinny wasted women who are constantly wearing nothing but underwear. Theses are not just scantily clad women. They are scantily clad women straddling pool tables and tied to giant presents. It has become the number 2 spot after the Evian roller skating babies ad. It receives 985, 329 views PER WEEK. 

            This advertisement is a one minute and 32 second spot with helicopters, planes, explosions, models and entire circus performers. The concept is “One Gift, A Thousand Fantasies”. It is a multi million dollar commercial made to depict even the strongest of women, for example, the women by the military helicopters, into a fantasy. He continues to undermined the image of the strong women is in this advertisement. Take a look at the image to the right: this image shows the women how they really look. The bones stick out at awkward angles and you can see every corner of their skeleton. The women are obviously unhealthy. However, this is the way the media has decided that women need to be portrayed.

            In contrast, we all remember the Dove Evolution viral ad. The ad directly referenced the growing concerns of females and body image. They discovered only 2% of women around the world would describe themselves as beautiful. The budget, compared to the millions upon millions spent on Michael Bay and his explosive bras, was an estimated $135 000. 

A 75 second spot that was made by the agency Ogilvy and Mather from the left over budget from another advertisement. The Dove Evolution ad won several awards including two Cannes Lions Grand Prix awards; one of the most prestigious advertising awards around and has generated $150 Million dollars worth of exposure. Dove touched the lives of $1 Million girls across the world. As a result of this campaign, the international website increased hits by 8 000%, which is practically unheard of! Such as simple campaign increased more coverage then the Michael Bay advertisement could have ever have reached. A simple message with a small budget achieved such heights that Dove is now top of mind in their market category. A powerful statement with a powerful insight into the minds of consumers, no one should over look this message. 

 

That being said, the Michael Bay commercial was created in 2009. The Dove Evolution ad was created in 2006. It would appear that not much has changed.