Dove Unleashes "Onslaught": Social Responsibility or Corporate Hypocrisy?

It could be said that the art of advertising is the art of convincing people that they are not, in fact, being advertised to. This kind of savvy, ad exec trickery is a challenging feat indeed, but when it works, it really works!

Enter Toronto's Ogilvy & Mather, the ad agency responsible for the wildly popular viral videos from Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty. "Onslaught", the follow up video to "Evolution", has garnered over 200,000 views on Youtube since it first hit the web on Monday. Feeding the viral frenzy are people who may claim to have no interest at all in the Dove brand, but are compelled, for whatever reason, to pass on the video to a friend. I've received the video four times now. The general consensus: "It's a cool ad with a great message." Well done Ogilvy & Mather, you savvy ad execs, you!

"Onslaught" depicts a young red head on her way to school before she is viciously sucked into an alternate universe of seduction, plastic surgery, purging, and over the counter diet fads. The video ends with the message, "Talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does."

Thank you, Dove, for enlightening me. I see things much more clearly now. Shall I boycott the beauty industry as well? No, of course not, just the brands that perpetuate our distorted standards of ourselves, which I know, Dove, you are clearly against.

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is a genius of a campaign. There is no denying that. It has managed to successfully burrow its way into the heads of its target market, convincing women across generations that beauty is on the inside. A feat considering the fact that Dove, like it or not, is a major player in the beauty market. I guess when it really comes down to it; I'll take the cool ad with the great message over the degrading ad that makes me feel fat. Well done Dove!