FBI-Trained Forensic Artist Conducts A Social Experiment To Illustrate The Ongoing Struggle Women Have With Recognizing Their Own Beauty

Dove® "Real Beauty Sketches" Campaign Reveals the Dramatic Difference Between Self-Image and What Others See

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Apr 16, 2013, 04:59 ET

ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The way women depict themselves is dramatically different from how others perceive them. Over half (54%) of women globally agree that when it comes to how they look, they are their own worst beauty critic¹, which equates to a staggering 672 million women around the world². Dove® is committed to creating a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety and in response has conducted a compelling social experiment to illustrate how this problem manifests. Documented in the short film, Real Beauty Sketches, Dove explores how women view their own beauty in contrast to what others see.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/61286-dove-real-beauty-sketches-short-film-documentary-women-self-image

The Real Beauty Sketches film features Gil Zamora, an FBI trained forensic artist who has used his trademark Compositure™ Methodology to draw over 3,000 sketches during his 28-year career. The film documented Zamora creating composite sketches of seven women who were hidden behind a curtain and he used their self-descriptions as the basis of his drawings. Prior to their session with the forensic artist, each of the women were unexpectedly asked to spend a short period of time with a stranger without being told why. Zamora then drafted sketches from the stranger's depictions. Most of the sketches drafted from the stranger's point of view showed a more beautiful, happier and frequently more accurate portrayal of the women and further demonstrates that, when it comes to how they look the biggest beauty pressure is the pressure they put on themselves.

"When I was asked to be a part of the film for Dove, I never imagined how different the two sketch portrayals would be" said Gil Zamora, forensic artist. "What has stayed with me are the emotional reactions the women had when they viewed the composite sketches hung side by side. I think many of these brave women realized that they had a distorted self-perception that had affected parts of their lives in significant ways."

A Sketch Is Worth A Thousand Words
The film documents the women's reactions to their self-image and their realization of how low self-esteem is affecting many other elements of their lives. It inspires the women, and viewers alike, to see the beauty within themselves.

"We conducted this social experiment and produced a film to reinforce our commitment to fostering self-esteem in women," said Jennifer Bremner, Brand Building Director, Skin Cleansing, for Dove. "We hope it will inspire women to reconsider their beauty and understand how other people see them."

You Are More Beautiful Than You Think
Women are their own worst beauty critics - only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful (up from 2% in 2004). Dove believes that when women look and feel their best, they feel happier. The Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign encourages women to reassess how they see themselves. Women can view the Dove Real Beauty Sketches film at dove.us/realbeautysketches, Facebook.com/Dove or join the conversation at #wearebeautiful.

About Dove
Dove, manufactured by Unilever, is the No. 1 personal wash brand nationwide. One in every three households uses a Dove product¹, which includes beauty bars, body washes, face care, anti-perspirant/deodorants, body mists, hair care and styling aids. Dove Men+Care™ is the newest range of products from Dove, developed specially for men. Dove is available nationwide in food, drug and mass outlet stores.

About Unilever United States, Inc.
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of Food, Home and Personal Care products with sales in over 190 countries. Our products are present in 7 out of 10 homes globally and are used by over 2 billion people on a daily basis. In the United States the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, 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, Ragu, Simple, Slim-Fast, Soft & Beautiful, St. Ives, Suave, tcb, TIGI, TRESemme, Vaseline, and Wish-Bone. 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, whilst 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 are more than 50 time-based targets. See more on the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan at http://www.unileverusa.com/sustainable-living/.

Unilever employs more than 10,000 people in the United States – generating over $9 billion in sales in 2012. For more information, visit www.unileverusa.com.

Contact:
Marissa Florindi/ Edelman
[email protected]
Ph: 212 704 4477

Stacie Bright/Unilever
[email protected]

¹ Dove Research: The Real Truth About Beauty: Revisited

² Sources: CIA Factbook and US Census

SOURCE Dove