The Power Is In Our Hands To #SpeakBeautiful And Change The Conversation In Social Media

THE POWER IS IN OUR HANDS TO #SPEAKBEAUTIFUL AND CHANGE THE CONVERSATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA
Dove and Twitter Ask Women to Turn the Red Carpet Event Of The Year into an Opportunity for Positive Social Media Change

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, NJ, February 19, 2015 / PR Newswire / — Women and girls now live in a world of nonstop digital conversation. Social media platforms are environments where women are sometimes bombarded with messages that are hurtful and destructive to their self-esteem and confidence. In fact, new Dove research reveals that 8 out of 10 women encounter negative comments on social media that critique women’s looks.1 As a global beauty brand committed to helping women develop a positive relationship with beauty, Dove is partnering with Twitter to change how beauty is reflected to women on social media.

The new Dove #SpeakBeautiful campaign will encourage women to realize the role our online words play in impacting our confidence and self-esteem. When it comes to speaking positively to other women on social media, and about yourself, Dove wants everyone to understand that the power is in our hands. Together, with Twitter, Dove will unveil new advertising during Hollywood’s biggest red carpet event of the year to inspire social media change. The #SpeakBeautiful video reveals that over five million negative body image tweets were posted in 2014,2 yet only 9% of women admit to posting negative comments on social media.1 Women do not realize that the messages they post are contributing to negative mindsets and behavior about beauty online. Dove wants women and girls everywhere to understand that their online words matter, and it only takes one tweet to ignite a positive trend.

“Dove has long been committed to instilling self-esteem in the next generation, and we know that women today are 50% more likely to say something negative about themselves, than positive, on social media,” said Jennifer Bremner, Director of Marketing, Dove. “Ideas and opinions about body image are now fluidly shared every second through social feeds, and sometimes we do not fully realize the resounding impact of the words in even one post. The power to #SpeakBeautiful is in the hands of us all–we can positively change the way future generations express themselves online.”

New Partnership Encourages More Positive Talk Online in 2015
As part of #SpeakBeautiful, Twitter and Dove will encourage women and girls to turn ugly tweets into beautiful ones using new technology that uses Twitter data to identify negative social media conversations about beauty and body image. When a negative tweet is posted, the technology will be used by Dove to send non-automated responses to real women, which include constructive and accessible advice to encourage more positive online language and habits. Advice will come directly from social media and self-esteem experts who collaborate with Dove and Twitter to empower women to speak with more confidence, optimism, and kindness about beauty online.

“Dove has been a leader in supporting women’s self-esteem and body confidence, and Twitter is the natural place for that conversation to unfold, especially on the night of a major awards show,” said Adam Bain, President of Revenue at Twitter. “We look forward to seeing how women and communities on Twitter connect and #SpeakBeautiful, both on Hollywood’s biggest night and well beyond.”

Shedding Light on Social Media’s Impact on Our Self-Esteem
Dove commissioned new research with social media scholar and Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research, danah boyd, to better understand how detrimental social commentary online can be to women’s self-confidence. Dove learned that 82% of women surveyed feel the beauty standards set by social media are unrealistic,1 which reveals the truth about how beauty is reflected to women on social media. Furthermore, 4 out of every 5 negative tweets Twitter identified about beauty and body image are women talking about themselves.1

“Social media is playing a critical role in showing and shaping how women and girls feel about themselves,” said danah boyd. “Yet, women do not realize how online dialogue can contribute to negative mindsets and behavior towards beauty both on and offline. We women have an incredible opportunity to be more thoughtful about how we speak about ourselves and others on social media. The power is truly at our fingertips.”

View the #SpeakBeautiful ad at YouTube.com/Dove, #SpeakBeautiful on your social media channels, and watch the real-time shift from negative to positive in the beauty conversation online by following @Dove on Twitter.

About Dove
Dove®, manufactured by Unilever, is the No. 1 personal wash brand nationwide. One in every three households uses a Dove® product, which includes beauty bars, body washes, face care, anti-perspirant/deodorants, body mists, hair care, styling aids and Dove® Men+Care™, developed specially for men. Dove® is available nationwide in food, drug and mass outlet stores.

About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in more than 190 countries. Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. In the United States and Canada, the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Becel, Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, Fruttare, Good Humor, Hellmann’s, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond’s, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Simple, St. Ives, Suave, TIGI, TONI&GUY Hair Meet Wardrobe, TRESemme and Vaseline. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies.

Our ambition is to double the size of our business, while reducing our overall environmental footprint (including sourcing, consumer use and disposal) and increasing our positive social impact. We are committed to helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and well-being, sourcing all our agricultural raw materials sustainably by 2020, and decoupling our growth from our environmental impact. Supporting our three big goals, we have defined seven pillars, underpinned by targets encompassing social, environmental and economic areas. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at http://www.unileverusa.com/sustainable-living/ or http://www.unilever.ca/sustainable-living/.

Unilever employs approximately 11,500 people across North America – generating more than $10 billion in sales in 2013. For more information, visit www.unileverusa.com or www.unilever.ca.

Contact:
Marissa Florindi /Edelman
(212) 704-4477
Marissa.Florindi@edelman.com


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