Hasta La Ideas

Dove and Ogilvy Brazil have hired a forensic artist to show the difference in how women see themselves and how they are perceived by others. As part of its ongoing ‘Campaign for Real Beauty’, which has seen Dove pull off various high-profile stunts to celebrate the natural beauty of ‘real women’, the beauty brand invited women to be sketched by Gil Zamora, an FBI-trained forensic artist.

Without seeing the women, Zamora used only their own descriptions, and his forensic training to piece together a detailed portrait. He then illustrated another portrait, but going on the descriptions of random strangers who spent a limited time chatting to the women.

The results certainly have an impact, with both portraits clearly representing the woman sitting – but the own description in most cases far more unforgiving and unflattering than the one by the stranger.

Among the accompanying videos is a brief documentary that tells the story of the experiment, and an interesting little insight from Zamora on how he applied his forensic technique to the campaign (see below).

There are already a few detractors on the Real Beauty Sketches website questioning Dove’s selection of women in the first place, for example. And it’s not clear how many women were sketched overall. But the campaign nonetheless manages to use an innovative idea to bring its core message across with instant effect.

Credits
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Brazil
Chief creative 0fficer: Anselmo Ramos
Executive creative director: Roberto Fernandez /Paco Conde
AD: Diego Machado
CW: Hugo Veiga
Sketch Artist: Gil Zamora
Producer: Veronica Beach

Production Company: Paranoid US
Director: John X Carey

The April print issue of CR presents the work of three young animators and animation teams to watch. Plus, we go in search of illustrator John Hanna, test out the claims of a new app to have uncovered the secrets of viral ad success and see how visual communications can both help keep us safe and help us recover in hospital

Buy your copy here.

Please note, CR now has a limited presence on the newsstand at WH Smith high street stores (although it can still be found in WH Smith travel branches at train stations and airports). If you cannot find a copy of CR in your town, your WH Smith store or a local independent newsagent can order it for you. You can search for your nearest stockist here. Alternatively, call us on 020 7970 4878, or buy a copy direct from us. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 970 4878 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine.

CR for the iPad
Read in-depth features and analysis plus exclusive iPad-only content in the Creative Review iPad App. Longer, more in-depth features than we run on the blog, portfolios of great, full-screen images and hi-res video. If the blog is about news, comment and debate, the iPad is about inspiration, viewing and reading. As well as providing exclusive, iPad-only content, the app will also update with new content throughout each month.