2023 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

Kids are experiencing severe mental health issues from the onslaught of seemingly endless toxic beauty content on social media. Anxiety, depression, self-harm, eating disorders, PTSD, and even suicide all are the potential outcomes of social media exposure.

In fact, the majority of young girls say they feel the pressure to look perfect and match what they see on social media, with 53% of girls reporting hating their bodies, and by extension themselves, The brief was twofold: first, highlight the scale of the social media-induced mental health crisis among kids; and second, inspire the world to act, demand change, and save kids from the dire consequences of toxic beauty content. The agency’s goal was to mobilize the masses by creating a single, shareable film and get viewers to sign the petition to support the Kids Online Safety Act.

Toxic beauty content is devastating the mental health of 3 in 5 kids, with an entire generation in crisis. The harm social media can cause has no limits, because neither does social media. It is apparent that there is a cost of beauty, and that cost is being paid with the lives of kids. To take action, Dove wanted to support the Kids Online Safety Act.

To inspire others to do the same, they told the story of a real teen survivor. However, the agency didn’t need actors, a set, or a camera crew. The harrowing impact of harmful content is well documented by the young people at the centre of it. All they had to do was look at their phones.

3 in 5 kids experience mental health issues from social media. So, the agency told the story of Mary; a teen who almost lost her life from an eating disorder. However, they didn’t need to shoot her story, Mary already had. Using her own photos, videos, and journal entries, spanning over a decade, they crafted 14 years of her life into 115 seconds.

Set to an emotional female cover of Joe Cocker’s iconic song, “You Are So Beautiful to Me,” they see how quickly social media shapes Mary’s view of her own beauty, causing her mental health to severely struggle. In the end, they learn this isn’t just Mary’s story. It’s the story of millions of girls. The film concludes with a rallying call for people to sign the petition in support of the Kids Online Safety Act.

Due to the sensitive nature of the subject, the film soft-launched organically and immediately went viral. In just 10 days, there were 28M organic views, and over 9.13M video views on Dove’s owned channels (Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube), an increase of 16.7k new followers – a 157% increase compared to the previous two-week period.

It is Dove’s highest organically viewed film of all time. Earned media coverage garnered 2.5B impressions with 190 placements including NBC, Women’s Health, Teen Vogue, and Breakfast Television. Dove has already surpassed its goal of converting more than 50,000 petition signatures in support of passing the Kids Online Safety Act, averaging 300 signers per hour. Now, the campaign is moving into paid placement.

Credits

Alessandro Manfredi Chief Marketing Officer, Dove
Leandro Barreto Global Vice President, Dove Masterbrand & Skin Care
Pau Bartoli Global Brand Director, Dove Masterbrand
Alix Colin Global Marketing Manager, Dove Masterbrand
Francesco Grandi Chief Creative Officer
Daniel Fisher Global Executive Creative Director (Unilever) & Special Projects
Morgan Starr Associate Creative Director Copy
Luke Woodard Associate Creative Director Art
Liz Taylor, Global CCO
Chris Beresford Hill, N/A President Ogilvy and CCO
George Sholley, Head of Production N/A
Laurence Blake Designer
Jo Bacon Global Client Lead
Doug le Patourel Global Managing Partner
Lucy Tone-McGurk Global Client Partner
Teigan Henry Global Account Director
Natasha Wijeweera Global Account Manager
Olivia White Digital Account Manager
James Brook-Partridge Head of Integrated Production
Amanda Kresge Lead Senior Film Producer
Chris Chapman Deputy Head of Production (Unilever)
Lynsie Roberts Assistant Producer
George Ward Assistant Producer
Jonathon Nixon Senior Art Producer
Lindsey Gonnella Chief Strategy Officer
PRODUCTION PARTNERS
Production:
Henry-Alex Rubin Director
Patrick Milling-Smith Co-Founder
Brian Carmody Co-Founder
Fergus Brown Managing Director/Executive Producer
Drew Santarsiero Executive Producer
Manny Caston Line Producer
Svetlana Dekic Production Supervisor
Director of Photography David Devlin
1st Assistant Director Ed Walsh
Production Designer Justin Allen
Wardrobe Callan Stokes
Casting:
Gina Liotti Head of Production
Jennifer Kitchin Executive Producer
Meg Miller Senior Casting Producer
Editorial:
Jim Helton & Ashley Kreamer Co-Editors
Patrick Colman Additional Editor
Micah Chase & Chris Rizzo Assistant Editor
Wade Weliever Senior Producer
Penny Ensley Head of Production
Sarah Roebuck Executive Producer
Managing Director Justin Brukman
Post Production:
Dirk Greene Executive Creative Director
Phil Apostol Lead Flame
Phil Brooks Head of Design