2024 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 Unilever
Leandro Barreto Global Vice President, Dove Masterbrand & Skin Care Unilever
Pau Bartoli - Global Brand Director, Dove Masterbrand Unilever
Alix Colin - Global Marketing Manager, Dove Masterbrand Unilever

AGENCY & PARTNERS
Daniel Fisher - Global Executive Creative Director (Unilever) & Special Projects, Ogilvy UK
Francesco Grandi - Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Toronto
Morgan Starr - Associate Creative Director Copy, Ogilvy Toronto
Luke Woodard - Associate Creative Director Art, Ogilvy Toronto
Laurence Blake - Designer, Ogilvy UK

Jo Bacon - Global Client Lead, Ogilvy
Doug le Patourel - Global Managing Partner, Ogilvy
Lucy Tone-McGurk - Global Client Partner, Ogilvy
Teigan Henry - Global Account Director, Ogilvy
Natasha Wijeweera - Global Account Manager, Ogilvy
Olivia White - Digital Account Manager, Ogilvy

James Brook-Partridge - Head of Integrated Production, Hogarth WW
Amanda Kresge - Lead Senior Film Producer, Ogilvy
Chris Chapman - Deputy Head of Production (Unilever), Ogilvy
Lynsie Roberts - Assistant Producer, Ogilvy
Jonathon Nixon - Senior Art Producer, Ogilvy

Lindsey Gonnella - Chief Strategy Officer, Ogilvy

PRODUCTION PARTNERS
Production:
Henry-Alex Rubin - Director, Smuggler
Patrick Milling-Smith - Co-Founder, Smuggler
Brian Carmody - Co-Founder, Smuggler
Fergus Brown - Managing Director/Executive Producer, Smuggler UK
Drew Santarsiero - Executive Producer, Smuggler LA
Manny Caston - Line Producer, Smuggler LA
Svetlana Dekic - Production Supervisor, Smuggler LA
Director of Photography - David Devlin, Smuggler LA
1st Assistant Director - Ed Walsh, Smuggler LA
Production Designer - Justin Allen, Smuggler LA
Wardrobe - Callan Stokes, Smuggler LA

Casting:
Gina Liotti - Head of Production, Genuine Real People
Jennifer Kitchin - Executive Producer, Genuine Real People
Meg Miller - Senior Casting Producer, Genuine Real People