Issue 1: Contradictory company views
Axe is owned by Dove. People may argue, that it is a different branch of the company and shouldn't come into an argument about an entirely different campaign. However, given the history of women objectification on Axe's part it just cannot be avoided. It would be like WeightWatchers buying out McDonalds, and saying: "eat as much as you want, and come to us when you hate yourself" or given up on your diet? Well eat here… you'll come crawling back" I feel as if Dove builds up esteem, and then presents another ideal that we should fit, just as we get comfortable. A point brought up by another blog I read, is that the campaign is is still an ad. Despite attempting to promote natural beauty, the company is still trying to sell you products which cover your natural face with such things as antiaging cream, or promoting the idea of enhancing your beauty with their product. The point is, no matter what message they are truthfully trying to promote, or hide behind, as long as they are making money they don't give a damn what you look like.
Issue 2: Beauty is more than a face
The video shows shots of the person from the neck up, now it could be argued that that means that person could make anybody able-bodied or not. However, I feel that it is time that we focus on the fact that beauty is more than a face beauty is the whole Now, I'm going to get a little personal here and tell you that I was a child and still very much today I feel discouraged by advertisements because able-bodied people are always shown and in very few commercials are disabled people encouraged as strong individuals. It was very hard growing up, because I believed that being in a wheelchair and attached to 300 pounds of metal most of my life, made me an ugly person. Advertisements did not help get that out my head, but they enhanced it. The only commercial I ever saw growing up promoting people with disabilities, did not say we were beautiful it only talked about our capabilities. I realize that many people who supported the video right now might not be part of the minority the commercials effect, but I know that they once were. But some point lives we have all been discouraged due to an advertisement, or media representation. It is so easy to think that we have made some progress, but we still have so far to go…
Television as a whole is also very misleading, because they have shows representing so many different groups, but the truth is that those groups represented in the TV shows are the preferred members of the group. For example, there is a show called Push Girls, that highlights the the lives if 4 models That have become paraplegic in freak accidents. In truth, you would never see a story about a real person facing the struggles, because the whole point of the media is to glamorize what might otherwise be scary. In my opinion, it would be helpful if the media started giving accurate representations, because in today's world it is still very hard for me to feel beautiful… Even with a bright smile, and mostly positive outlook
Karli
