Degree Type
Honors Capstone Project
Date of Submission
Spring 5-1-2018
Capstone Advisor
Harriet Brown
Honors Reader
Maria Russell
Capstone Major
Public Relations
Capstone College
Public Communications
Audio/Visual Component
no
Capstone Prize Winner
no
Won Capstone Funding
no
Honors Categories
Professional
Subject Categories
Communication | Critical and Cultural Studies | Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication | Public Relations and Advertising
Abstract
My Capstone project analyzed Dove’s “Real Beauty” integrated communications campaign to determine whether it succeeded in its original goals and to see what it could demonstrate for the future of campaigns and branding. The campaign sought to make women feel comfortable in their own skin, and since 2004 it has launched dramatic billboards and short videos to get the attention of women of all ages and share empowering messages and images with them.
I created a survey that asked questions similar to what Dove originally asked women in 2004 when it began its campaign. My goal was to see what trends women picked up on the most from Dove’s campaign and the media landscape in general about women’s body image. The survey showed that the issues Dove sought to handle with its campaign were much more deeply ingrained in society, and it would take more than a campaign to be able to change them as much as it hoped. Overall, Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign showed the differences between advertising to different generations of women, and the way brands should address their campaign messages to them. Though the campaign sought to change an ideology held in society for decades, I discovered that it will take much more than clever messaging and images to make a long-term change in society.
Recommended Citation
Georgeson, Taylor, "Dove’s “Real Beauty” Campaign: A Critical Analysis of an Integrated Communications Campaign that Sought to Change Fat Stigma" (2018). Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All. 1271.
https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/1271
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Public Relations and Advertising Commons
