2022 Winner
SilverBest in CSR
SilverBest Use of Technology
BronzeBest Integrated Campaign - Budget Over $250,000
BronzeBest in Consumer Goods
Unilever (Dove)
"Toxic Influence"
PHD and Rogers Sports & Media
"Toxic Influence"
PHD and Rogers Sports & Media
Research commissioned by Dove discovered that 1 in 2 girls believe idealized beauty content has negatively impacted their self-esteem. And while the biggest influence in their lives is their parents, they found parents were consistently underestimating the impact of social media beauty advice.
Parents wouldn’t let strangers say damaging or manipulative things to their daughters in public, yet they are unaware it’s happening online every day. Technology and culture have combined to make dangerous content an insidious part of everyday life.
Dove set out to use cutting-edge technology to improve the self-esteem of 3.5 million Canadian girls, and to end toxic beauty advice on social media. They wanted to empower parents and teens to come together on a regular basis to #DetoxYourFeed, by talking about toxic beauty and by hitting the unfollow button when identified.
With that in mind, it created a campaign film that used innovative face mapping (DeepFake) technology to grab attention of parents everywhere.
Using real women and girls, it asked mothers to sit down with their daughters and scroll through their social media feeds. Using a selection of toxic beauty advice the girls were being exposed to, they used DeepFake to put that advice in the mouths of their mothers, shocking both mother and daughter when they showed how out of place this advice sounds coming from someone you trust and
look to for guidance.
It distributed this brand film across primetime linear TV, connected TV and online video to reach as many parents as possible–the ultimate objective–while also using social media, the very platforms feeding the problem, to educate on the latest stats and figures from its research. It partnered with local broadcasters and parenting podcasts, whose well-known hosts and personalities spoke candidly about the effects of social media in their own lives.
Ultimately encouraging parents to visit Dove’s owned environments and download the kits created for parents to have the “influencer talk” with their kids.
It also created a real-life bedroom pop-up, showcasing some of the content teens and tweens are exposed to, to demonstrate the sheer volume of messages our girls receive on social media.
This was the first time DeepFake face mapping was used to support a major brand's effort. The uncanny effect of putting words into the mouths of mothers had an immediate impact on the women in the room and anyone watching the video.
Over the years, Dove has taken a stand on the most critical issues in the areas of body image and beauty representation. It does this by taking concrete actions towards beauty inclusiveness for all women and girls.
Since launching the Dove Self-Esteem Project in 2004, research has shown the tremendous value that the Dove work is doing. However, on average only 20% of their audience is aware of the work.
The mission was to create a campaign that increased awareness of its efforts. It set out to detoxify beauty by breaking down toxic beauty practices and arming girls to survive today’s toxic beauty influences through education.
The focus for the project was mass-awareness. It knew that this was a problem which was likely to impact the vast majority of teens and tweens in Canada, and therefore focused on ensuring it reached as many parents as it could. This would allow it to have the biggest impact. The combination of offline and online media, as well as the use of influencers, and a teen bedroom pop-up installation, allowed it to spark a conversation, which spread like wildfire through their earned media.
It saw a 51% increase in engagement on its site, where parents could download the Influencer Talk Confidence Boost Guide, and watch a suite of videos, empowering them to have the influencer talk with their kids.
With over 19.5M earned impressions across news and media outlets, it extended the reach of their paid campaign, and ensured it reached the parents of well over 3.5 million Canadian girls.
Parents wouldn’t let strangers say damaging or manipulative things to their daughters in public, yet they are unaware it’s happening online every day. Technology and culture have combined to make dangerous content an insidious part of everyday life.
Dove set out to use cutting-edge technology to improve the self-esteem of 3.5 million Canadian girls, and to end toxic beauty advice on social media. They wanted to empower parents and teens to come together on a regular basis to #DetoxYourFeed, by talking about toxic beauty and by hitting the unfollow button when identified.
With that in mind, it created a campaign film that used innovative face mapping (DeepFake) technology to grab attention of parents everywhere.
Using real women and girls, it asked mothers to sit down with their daughters and scroll through their social media feeds. Using a selection of toxic beauty advice the girls were being exposed to, they used DeepFake to put that advice in the mouths of their mothers, shocking both mother and daughter when they showed how out of place this advice sounds coming from someone you trust and
look to for guidance.
It distributed this brand film across primetime linear TV, connected TV and online video to reach as many parents as possible–the ultimate objective–while also using social media, the very platforms feeding the problem, to educate on the latest stats and figures from its research. It partnered with local broadcasters and parenting podcasts, whose well-known hosts and personalities spoke candidly about the effects of social media in their own lives.
Ultimately encouraging parents to visit Dove’s owned environments and download the kits created for parents to have the “influencer talk” with their kids.
It also created a real-life bedroom pop-up, showcasing some of the content teens and tweens are exposed to, to demonstrate the sheer volume of messages our girls receive on social media.
This was the first time DeepFake face mapping was used to support a major brand's effort. The uncanny effect of putting words into the mouths of mothers had an immediate impact on the women in the room and anyone watching the video.
Over the years, Dove has taken a stand on the most critical issues in the areas of body image and beauty representation. It does this by taking concrete actions towards beauty inclusiveness for all women and girls.
Since launching the Dove Self-Esteem Project in 2004, research has shown the tremendous value that the Dove work is doing. However, on average only 20% of their audience is aware of the work.
The mission was to create a campaign that increased awareness of its efforts. It set out to detoxify beauty by breaking down toxic beauty practices and arming girls to survive today’s toxic beauty influences through education.
The focus for the project was mass-awareness. It knew that this was a problem which was likely to impact the vast majority of teens and tweens in Canada, and therefore focused on ensuring it reached as many parents as it could. This would allow it to have the biggest impact. The combination of offline and online media, as well as the use of influencers, and a teen bedroom pop-up installation, allowed it to spark a conversation, which spread like wildfire through their earned media.
It saw a 51% increase in engagement on its site, where parents could download the Influencer Talk Confidence Boost Guide, and watch a suite of videos, empowering them to have the influencer talk with their kids.
With over 19.5M earned impressions across news and media outlets, it extended the reach of their paid campaign, and ensured it reached the parents of well over 3.5 million Canadian girls.
Credits
Laura R Douglas, UnileverCathleen Rafeiro, Unilever
Marissa Robinson, PHD
Janhavi Jadhav, PHD
Anna Kovaleva, PHD
Catherine Santos, Edelman
Danielle Bozinoff, Edelman
Madison Boratto, Edelman
April Burak, RSM
Laura McKenzie, RSM
Alison Williams, RSM
Haem Roy, RSM
Giulia Demasi, RSM
Rosemary Pereira, RSM
Connie Lucia, RSM