Dove’s moving new ad asks young girls what they’d change about their looks

By Beth stebner

September 30, 2015

By Beth stebner

September 30, 2015

There’s always that one thing you wish you could change about yourself, right? You wish you could trade your tight curls for a pin-straight look, or magically wake up one day with (or without) freckles?

In their latest installation of their Self Esteem Project, Dove released a video showing young girls talking about their physical insecurities and what they would change about how they look.

“I wish I had straight hair,” a curly brunette says while sitting in an empty playground.

“Blonde hair would be nice,” says a girl with straight black hair. Another little girl wants freckles, while a swimmer with big breasts says she wouldn’t mind trading them in for a smaller pair.

“I was the first girl in my class to get a bra,” she says from the pool, arms crossed. “I just kind of want to fit in.”

According to AdAge, the idea for the latest in the long-running Real Beauty campaign (it’s been around since 2004, ya’ll!) stemmed from Dove’s own research, which found that 90% of girls surveyed said they wanted to change one thing about themselves. That is obviously 90% too many.

Dove also launched a feel-good, 80-slide collection of “confidence boosting boards” on Pinterest, with wistful advice for parents and young teens on how to gain self-confidence.

“We’re hoping to inspire girls to realize they don’t need to change themselves and help build a more positive relationship with their own beauty,” Jennifer Bremner, the senior brand development director of Dove, told AdAge.

It’s great to see an openness to talking about our insecurities as the body positivity movement is gaining more mainstream traction. And, in a way, it’s a powerful message to realize that even if someone else looks the way you yourself want to look, there is always more than meets the eye. The real message here is no one is 100% satisfied with their looks, and the grass is always greener. But you know what? We’re all beautiful. And perhaps it’s that beauty we should be focusing on.