Dove's Self-Esteem Fund 2006 Super Bowl Ad

The 2006 round-up of Super Bowl commercials included the usual suspects: sex, violence, clever word play and a good dose of pop culture references. Standing out among the crowd was Dove's "Self-Esteem Fund" ad which features young girls who question their appearance and seem to wonder if they can measure up to the collective standards of beauty. (Click here to watch the ad)

To some, Dove's ad may have seemed out of place on Super Bowl Sunday. However, it's very appearance along side ads for beer, cars and fast food spoke to some very interesting trends in marketing and demographics.

Dove's Self-Esteem Fund's mission is to help girls worldwide develop a more positive body image. Their motto, "because every girl deserves to feel good about herself and see how beautiful she really is" is at the heart of this campaign. Dove was initially criticized by industry insiders for their strategy of using real women instead of models in their campaigns. However, this move has been applauded by female consumers.

According to Dove's Self-Esteem Fund website, "Research from around the globe has repeatedly demonstrated the effects of stereotypical beauty imagery on some women's perception of themselves. Dr Susie Orbach (Psychotherapist, London School of Economics and author of Fat is a Feminist Issue) has discovered that spending just three minutes looking at fashion magazines lowers the self-esteem of 80% of women."

Dove sees a crisis, not just in the United States, but world wide, with girls who have a negative body image. Considering some of these statistics, Dove may be on to something:

· 69 percent of girls said magazine models influence their idea of a perfect body

· 75 percent of "normal" weight women think they are overweight

· 75 percent of girls age 8-12 would like to change something about their bodies

· By age 16 more than 25 percent of girls already want plastic surgery

So, why did Dove choose to run their Self-Esteem Fund ad during the 2006 Super Bowl?

One reason was probably to draw attention to their message through contrast. Surrounded by testosterone filled ads, the Dove ad stuck out and was able to grab viewer's attention. Philippe Harousseau, North American marketing director for Dove, admits that a message about women's self-esteem is "not what most people will be expecting on Super Bowl Sunday."

Another reason Dove probably chose to run this ad comes from a surprising demographic. Research done by ESPN on the 2006 Super Bowl audience found that 44% of those watching the game were female. In fact, Lisa Baird, the NFL's Senior Vice President of Consumer Products and Marketing revealed that, "More women watch the Super Bowl than the total audience for the Academy Awards. Women are critical to the NFL. They are huge fans who engage a lot with our teams and also watch on TV."

Baird points out that Dove's Self-Esteem Fund ad was aired during the Super Bowl simply because they wanted to reach their audience.

Count on advertisers to recognize women even more during the Super Bowl in coming years. Dove's ad is on the cutting edge of Super Bowl advertising in more ways that one.