New Social Experiment Illustrates the Ongoing Conflict Women Have with Recognizing their Beauty

(Dubai, United Arab Emirates), April 9th 2014: Inside every woman is the power to feel beautiful, confident and radiant, according to a first-of-its-kind social experiment conducted by Dove. Carried out in response to research revealing that an alarming 80% of women feel anxious about the way they look1, the study highlights how the right state of mind can unlock a powerful feeling of beauty that lives inside all women. The results are documented in the short film Dove: Patches on YouTube.com/DoveArabia

The experiment was guided by psychologist and New York Times best-selling author, Dr. Ann Kearney-Cooke (Ph.D., Counseling Psychology) who has spent thirty years conducting scientific research around women’s body image and self-esteem. 

During the experiment Dr. Kearney-Cooke invited the participants to wear a custom-made “beauty patch” for two weeks, which - would help them feel more beautiful.  The women were then invited to keep a personal account of their life-changing experience throughout the two week period. All the women agreed that wearing the “beauty patch” helped to improve their self-esteem and to change their personal lives in ways that they had not imagined. 

At the end of the experiment, however, it is revealed that the “beauty patch” contained nothing and that the power of believing in their own beauty influenced feeling beautiful. 

'When a woman feels beautiful, she radiates happiness and confidence, which inspires her life in a significant way,” said Dr. Kearney-Cooke.  “These women, like so many others, struggle to recognize their own beauty and it severely affects their daily lives.  This ground-breaking experiment was designed to illustrate that beauty is a state of mind and that the power to feel beautiful comes from within.”   

Beauty is a State of Mind
Throughout the Dove: Patches film, it becomes clear how low self-esteem affects many elements of the women’s lives.  As the women become more confident about the way they look, personal relationships flourish and they develop a more optimistic outlook on their daily routine.  One of the women who participated shared that she felt ashamed of her arms and had always avoided shopping.  A few days into the experiment, she started to feel more beautiful and invited her daughter to go shopping for the first time.   The two of them spent an unforgettable day together and they tried on dresses that she had never dreamed of wearing.  Dove hopes that all of the women’s inspirational stories featured in the Dove: Patches film will serve as powerful examples and encourage all women to develop a stronger relationship with their own beauty. 

“We hear from thousands of women every day about how their complicated relationship with beauty affects their overall confidence and happiness,” said Madhusudhan Rao, VP, Marketing, Unilever, North Africa and Middle East. “By illustrating through the Dove: Patches film that a positive state of mind and openness can help them feel more beautiful, we hope to inspire all women and help change the way they see themselves.”  

Dove invites all women to create a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety.  When women look and feel their best, they feel happier, and Dove believes it is important for women to see the beauty in themselves so that they can inspire the next generation. The brand has set a goal of reaching 15 million young lives with self-esteem programming by the end of 2015 and has reached over 12 million to date.  

Watch the Dove: Patches film at YouTube.com/DoveArabia and join the conversation at #BeautyIs. 

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 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

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. We work with 173,000 colleagues around the world, and we have generated annual sales of €51 billion in 2012. Over half of our company’s footprint is in the faster growing developing and emerging markets (57% in 2012). Working to create a better future every day, we help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. Our portfolio includes some of the world’s best known brands such as Knorr, Persil / Omo, Dove, Sunsilk, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Rexona / Sure, Wall’s, Lux, Rama, Ponds and Axe. 

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 www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/.

Unilever has been recognized in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Indexes for 14 consecutive years. We are included in the FTSE4Good Index Series and attained a top environmental score of 5, leading to inclusion in the FTSE4Good Environmental Leaders Europe 40 Index. In 2011 Unilever led the Climate Counts Company Scorecard and for the second year topped the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the GlobeScan / SustainAbility latest annual survey (2012). The company is an employer of choice in many of the countries in which it operates and is seen as a symbol for innovation and leadership development.
For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.