Critique of “Those Unnerving Ads Using Real Woman”
by Megan Daum is an writer for the LA times. In 2005 she wrote an article criticizing the Dove campaigns. I particularly enjoyed the article. Not looking much further into it three years later I was writing a critique on it for my comp class. I am sharing this article because It is my favorite of many.
The last and possibly most important point Megan Daum makes is the invasion of intimacy depicited by these advertisements. In the beginning this idea was abstract and difficult to grasp. First Megan Daum captures the sanctuary of her bedroom stating “We love our bedrooms, we’re comfortable in them, there’s nowhere we’d rather spend our nights. And part of the reason for that is that they’re private spaces, sanctuaries whose access is limited only to ourselves and the ones we love. She then relates this metaphor to her disgust of the campaign. Daum movies on to the core of why these “real” models invade intimacy and privacy. “An underwear model represents intimacy while at the same time protecting us from the rawness of actual intimacy. Her genius lies in her ability to be generic. And this is something Dove’s “real women” just can’t do.”(Daum). Harsh as this statement may be it is reality. Wordnet defines privacy as “the quality of being secluded from the presence or view of others”. The same website defines Intimacy as “familiarity.” The two definitions confirm Daums ideal of privacy and intimacy invaded by these commercials. Shallow as it may appear to some, her explanation is as logical as it is personally agreeable.Megan Daums view of this article is enlightening. Her vision and lack of hypocrisy is a testament of her intelligence.Every part of her article is well thought out and agreeable. The Dove campaign is in the least unnerving. Meth mouth will never sell toothpaste, and Dove should as Daum states, “Leave this work to the pros.. real woman have better things to do”
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