I was at the beach the night Unilever’s Mad Men-themed Dove commercial aired. Apparently it caused a bit of confusion and controversy.
In the ad, Unilever (Dove’s parent company) decided to mimic a circa 1964 ad agency in which two male copywriters are brainstorming ideas for a new Dove ad. A secretary steps into the picture, providing the men with coffee and after overhearing their conversation provides her opinion and provides the men with what appears to be a groundbreaking idea. She steps out of the scene and the two men, excited about the prospect of the idea, decide to play golf for the remainder of the day.
The ad heralds back to 1964, a time in which women weren’t equally compensated and generally under-respected in the workplace. The so-called controversy surrounds the woman in the ad when she says “look, I know this may not be my place, but…” The consensus among those who were offended was that the phrase reeked of inferiority and that Dove wasn’t being sensitive to the progress women have made over the past half century.
The confusion surrounding the ad was that when it aired, it was so well-produced that viewers thought it was a continuation of the show, that Mad Men hadn’t gone to commercial break. It wasn’t until the viewer realized the characters had no place in the actual episode that they realized it was an advertisement for Dove.
My opinion?
The “controversy”: A small majority of viewers may have been offended, but Dove hit a home run with this ad. Women are a growing demographic for the series and I highly doubt that the average viewer really cares about the tongue in cheek parody. That was the social norm during the 60’s. I would venture to say that the majority of female viewers were emboldened by the end of the ad, not offended. The woman dominates the scene. She’s the one with the idea. She’s the one who hits the home run. She’s the future Joan Holloway, speaking her mind and earning much deserved respect.
The “confusion”: The confusion is purposeful, no doubt, and is the power behind the ad. The purpose of re-creating a set to mimic that of the Mad Men series is to trick viewers into thinking they’re still watching the show. It’s brilliant. The question is, did viewers stop watching the ad once they figured out it wasn’t part of the show? Nope, they were intrigued. I saw Unilever’s second ad in it’s six-part series, one for Breyers ice cream, on the new episode of the series last night. I hadn’t seen the Dove commercial and wasn’t yet acquainted with the controversy and was myself confused. Once my wife and I figured it out we had a good laugh and watched the ad with intrigue and excitement.
About the Author
Brooks A. Brown is the founder and principal of Shout Out LLC, a Knoxville, Tennessee-based marketing, public relations, and communications firm serving clients throughout the nation.
