Really enjoyed this piece – keep em coming!

Cheers, Iggy

So in essence, A Dove campaign is done by Dove, not by Unilever. Ditto for Axe. Unilever’s campaigns are likely limited to CSR and other corporate/public affairs/financial things, not the promotion of individual brands.

I think the only ‘fault’ with Unilever is that they’ve been so transparent with this. And that’s actually refreshing. There are countless examples of Brands acting in what would seem like opposing ways yet nothing is said about the parent company that owns both. Unilever chose to expose the man behind the curtain, and while that has had some criticizing them one can’t fault their attempt to a) be honest and b) allow their brands to act independently.

@Amber – You’ve brought up a great point of contradiction. The AXE commercials were brought up as an example in the discussion with friends, too.

I’m sure that each brand probably has it’s on marketing team. I think that a decision would have to be made on the Unilever level that said “our marketing, in whatever form it takes, will empower, inspire, etc.” Of course, the AXE marcomm team would cry out that sex is what inspires teenage boys. (they’re probably right, too) So should we give companies like Unilever a break because different messages are driven to different audiences?

What I come back to is that it’s a much bigger problem to solve than we realize. And we are influenced by so many channels – music videos, music, TV, gossip mags, etc. – that it seems like an overwhelming problem to tackle. But it’s important to recognize and understand that the onslaught is happening not only because of how it effects our perceptions of self, but also the effects it has on our relationships.

So that begs the question: is it ok for a single company with many brands to put out conflicting messages? Do the men not need the empowerment, or is this a different *kind* of empowerment rooted in base sexuality? Isn’t that perpetuating stereotypes?

I’m ALL for messaging that empowers, inspires, and moves people in positive directions, and I do really like this campaign. I just have moments of pause realizing that many faces can be worn by a single company, even if some of them are the very essence of good (and others not so much).