Dove Turns Its Back On TikTok’s Unrealistic ‘Bold Glamour’ Beauty Filter
By Alexa Heah, 16 Mar 2023
Back in September, Dove debuted a video game featuring a cast of diverse characters who defied unrealistic body standards, hoping that young girls would not fall prey to common misconceptions and stereotypes that may affect their self-esteem.
Now, the beauty brand is targeting a particular filter trending on TikTok with its #TurnYourBack campaign. Created together with Ogilvy, the move hopes to “transform our toxic, digitally distorted feeds” and prevent these digital frameworks from reinforcing “the damaging beauty stereotypes” it has long been working to override.
The feature—known as ‘Bold Glamour’—dramatically changes users’ facial features, which could lead to susceptible women falling into the belief that they only look presentable in the presence of such distortions.
In fact, the campaign found that 80% of girls have already tried on a filter or retouching tool by age 13. Of these, 48% of those who tweak their pictures regularly possess lower body confidence than the 28% of girls who don’t.
Firdaous El Honsali, Global Vice President of External Communications at Dove, explained that while fun filters on social media can help bolster creativity and self-expression, this particular TikTok effect “goes beyond ‘play.’”
It’s certainly of concern that tools that were once only available to industry professionals are now accessible at a touch of a button. As such, Dove wants to reaffirm its commitment to #NoDigitalDistortion in any of its marketing or advertising to represent “real, authentic beauty.”
Many content creators on the platform have TikTok in on asking their followers to “turn their backs” on such filters, so that girls can feel more confident about how they present naturally and that “real beauty doesn’t need to be installed.”
@rikkisandhuu together with @dove I’m turning my back on #BoldGlamour you gals already know that I NEVER use filters anymore… ð«¶ð¼ & these filters are getting out of hand!! you’re all beautiful without the filters ð«ð #TurnYourBack to #BoldGlamour #NoDigitalDistortion ⬠original sound - RIKKI
@loumayyy Join me and @dove and fight these unrealistic beauty standards! #TurnYourBack on Bold Glamour! #NoDigitalDistortion #realbeautyisbold ⬠original sound - louise may
@brookepaintain It’s time to stand together with @dove and change society’s beauty standards⨠Because #realbeautyisbold and we’re already beautiful ð»ð§ð¼âï¸ð No Filter Needed ð«Join me and #TurnYourBack on Bold Glamour! #Nodigitaldistortion #letschangebeauty #ad ⬠Aesthetic - Tollan Kim
[via The Drum and The Industry, images via Ogilvy]