Announcement on self-image of women creates a Sensation

An online video, presented at three and six minutes only shows a forensic Sketch artist who is invited to draw a series of women based on their descriptions, versions.

Sitting at a table in drawing with his back to his subject, artist, Gil Zamora, asked the woman a series of questions about their features. "Tell me about your chin," said to the gentle voice that recalls a therapist. Large jaws, projection lie and dark circles, Crow's feet are just some of the many features physical women criticized on themselves.

After he finished a drawing of a woman, he draws then another outline of the same woman, but this time, that it is based on the way someone else described. The sketches are then hung side-by-side, and women are asked to compare them. In all cases, the second skit is more flattering than the first.

"I've come a long way in how I see myself, but I think I have still some way to go," said one of the women as filling her eyes with tears.

The music video, shot in a loft in San Francisco, has become a sensation online. The three-minute version has been viewed more than 7.5 million times on YouTube of the Dove channel, and the version which is twice as long has been viewed more than 936 times.

More than 2,000 people "liked" the video on the page Facebook of Dove and more than 1,000 shared.

The video also caught fire on other Web sites. An article on Mashable about the campaign was divided more than half a million times in 24 hours; on Buzzfeed, it was one of the best 10 points Thursday.

The video is part of the Dove campaign, from 2005, which focuses on the brand, which is owned by Unilever, so-called "real beauty". Executives said Dove campaign conducts research, which showed that 4% of women consider themselves as beautiful.

The mission of the campaign, said Fernando Machado, Vice President of brand world for Dove skin at Unilever, is "to create a world where beauty is a trusted source and not anxiety." The campaign was created by Ogilvy Mather & Brazil, part of WPP.

Brenda Fiala, senior vice president for strategy at Blast Radius, a digital advertising agency, said dove strives to create a sense of confidence among consumer, using deep emotions that many women feel about themselves and their appearance.

"It hits on a real truth of man for women", said Mrs Fiala. "Many women will underestimate the importance and also the way they look."

Mrs Fiala compared the strategy of a campaign that Procter & Gamble released during the Olympics last summer which focused on the relationship between mothers and their children from the athlete. "It is emotion that drives brands you feel like you can do trust and brands you want closer to you and your family," she said.

The campaign has certainly generated a wealth of emotion online. On his Facebook page, actor George Takei acknowledged that the video was an announcement, but said "it has tears in the eyes through its powerful message." More than 29,000 people have "liked" post to Mr. Takei.

Russell Glass, the CEO of Borges, an advertising technology company, has sent a message Twitter Wednesday saying that the announcement had made him think of his daughters, who are 4 and 2. "I started to tear up," Mr. Glass said in an interview. "A day that they could have to this point of view when they look in the mirror."

Audrey Olive, a stay-at-home mom in Phoenix with two sons, ages 9 and 11, said having seen the video on the Facebook page of the friend and shared with many of his friends. "As women we are so hard on ourselves physically and emotionally," said Ms. Olive. "It you stop and think about how we think ourselves."

Both Mr. Glass and Ms. Olive say that they were not bothered that the video who shot the emotional chord of so many people is, in fact, marketing for Dove.

"I think that they are defending the idea that women should take step back and not be so critical of themselves", said Ms. Olive. "If they end up selling more products." Mr. Glass said the balanced video many of the negative representations on women that he said are often in advertising.

Mrs Fiala at Blast Radius has said that when consumers go to the store to buy toiletries, they will remember the warm feelings, that they were associated with the brand. "If you have to choose between a deodorant and the other and see you Dove and you'll think, ' this is the brand for me, '", she said.

But not everyone was as moved. Brice, jazz 24, lives in the online campaign and decided it was something that made her uncomfortable. After watching the video several times she wrote a post on his Tumblr site, which became the dissenting voice to the campaign on social media. In a telephone interview, Ms. Brice challenged with the advertising slogan, "you're more beautiful than you think."

"I think it makes people much more susceptible to absorb the messages from the subconscious", says Ms. Brice, "in the middle of all this is that beauty is still what defines women. It is a bit hypocritical."

Then Ms. Brice praised the quality of the announcement and said that she did not "demonize" Dove or the announcement, his mixed feelings lingered.

"What happens if I look like that woman on the left?", she said, referring to the less flattering sketches of women. "There are people that look like that. ''

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