Last week, Greenpeace activists took to the streets once again, shutting down the parent company of Dove, Unilever headquarters’ entrances. They locked themselves to barricades made to resemble oversized Dove products, symbolising the very issue they were protesting.
Climbers unfurled a massive banner across the building’s facade, boldly declaring, ‘Real Beauty isn’t this toxic,’ and urged Dove to eliminate plastic from its products.
The new film comes after Greenpeace’s ‘Real Harm’ campaign, which began late last year with a series of huge outdoor demonstrations outside Unilever’s London headquarters. In one such activation, a towering soap bottle bearing the Dove logo was twisted into a powerful visual: a dead bird, signifying the brand’s environmental impact.
Two years ago, Dove had launched its own campaign titled ‘Toxic Influence,’ confronting the harmful beauty advice circulating on social media. With mothers and daughters sharing heartfelt conversations, Dove and its creative agency, Ogilvy, received widespread acclaim for tackling such a pressing issue. It resonated deeply, sparking important discussions about real beauty and the comments women face.
Fast forward to September 2024, as Dove marks the 20th anniversary of its ‘Real Beauty’ campaign, Greenpeace offered a sharp contrast. In its new film, also featuring mothers and daughters, it mirrored Dove’s signature candid conversations. This time, though, the daughters are shown a shocking revelation that the very brand they’ve known all the good things about is among the world’s top plastic polluters.
Directed by BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Alice Russell, the video opens with the brand’s iconic symbol, Dove slowly withering and dying. As the mothers and daughters initially celebrated the brand’s two-decade-long championing of real beauty, they were abruptly confronted with the view of Dove’s massive contribution to plastic waste.
The film closes with a message ‘If Dove really cares about women and girls, it’s time they stop poisoning our planet with plastic.’
