Is It Just Me, Or Is Dove Soap Using Mommy Blogs For Their Commercial Ideas?

Screen Shot 2013-07-11 at 7.18.22 AMAlison Tate, who writes for the Huffington Post, wrote one of my very favorite articles of all time ever about how as a mom she shies away from the camera. Her article was amazingly popular, shared a gazillion times, and even though it wasn’t a new sentiment or she may not have  been the very first mom to ever write on the topic, when I saw this new Dove ad I couldn’t help but think their advertising department probably owes Alison a nice thank you note or a box of soap or something. Back in October, Alison wrote:

When I look at pictures of my own mother, I don’t look at cellulite or hair debacles. I just see her — her kind eyes, her open-mouthed, joyful smile, her familiar clothes. That’s the mother I remember. My mother’s body is the vessel that carries all the memories of my childhood. I always loved that her stomach was soft, her skin freckled, her fingers long. I didn’t care that she didn’t look like a model. She was my mama.

So when all is said and done, if I can’t do it for myself, I want to do it for my kids. I want to be in the picture, to give them that visual memory of me. I want them to see how much I am here, how my body looks wrapped around them in a hug, how loved they are.

 

And here is the Dove ad:
[youtube_iframe id=”SPFsa6FLvlg”]

 

It’s a really cute commercial but I’m still sort of cranky at Dove for the way they handled the whole Facebook Rape pages fiasco and maybe it’s just me, but their new ad totally reeks of Alison’s request that “The Mom Stays In The Picture.” I know when I saw the spot the first thing I thought of was Alison’s article.

Yeah, yeah I know, I should just shut up and be thankful that Dove isn’t running commercials that feature scantily clad picture perfect heavily photoshopped Mombots in their ads, but these commercials feel so manipulative to me, especially since advertising is used to sell us junk. Alison’s article was so touching and gorgeous to me, and she wasn’t trying to sell us anything, other than the notion that moms are beautiful and we need to recapture the same joy we had as young girls in believing we are beautiful as old girls, stretch marks and all. Dove is trying to do the same thing, but sell me a mess of soap in the process. I think the sentiment is nice, and I’m personally still trying to stay in the picture, but not because Dove is telling me too, but because Alison made this plea first.

(Image: You Tube)

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