Dove has been using a marketing strategy of encouraging women to see their "real beauty." However, a new billboard the company is planning on placing in New Jersey may prove to be more controversial than anything else.
The billboard shows a woman displaying her armpit and says, "Dear New Jersey, When people call you 'the Armpit of America,' take it as a compliment. Sincerely, Dove."
The new billboard promotes Dove's latest deodorant line Dove Advanced Care and is set to arrive in New Jersey in July.
"I don't expect that there will be a lot of people who misunderstand, but to the degree that they do, we'll be open about what we're really trying to say," Matthew McCarthy, the senior marketing director of Dove's parent company Unilever, told The New York Times. "The message that we want to get out there is that the armpit is not a bad thing, and that we stand for caring for the armpit."
The announcement of the billboard comes not long after "Bridgegate," a scandal whereby traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge were closed apparently as ordered by aides of Gov. Chris Christie.
According to marketing expert Adam Hanft, the intention of the ad is to empower women and make the armpit look good, but that the message may end up backfiring.
"It just feels unnecessary and like it's kicking New Jersey when it's down," New Jersey resident and research executive Jen Drexler told the Times. "Give us a break."
Advertising for the new line of deodorant focuses on armpit aesthetics and care.
"Women don't really see the skin of their underarms like the skin of the rest of their body," said McCarthy. "When they think about their underarms, they think mostly about odor and wetness."
In 2012 Dove spent $26.9 million on deodorant advertising in the U.S. In the first nine months of 2013, it spent $33.3 million, according to Kantar Media, a unit of WPP.
The deodorant market has grown steadily, with revenues increasing nine percent in the U.S. between 2008 and 2013, according to the market research firm Mintel. For the new Dove deodorant line, consumers will pay 20 to 30 percent more than for the original line, but not as much as they would pay for Dove clinical-strength offerings, which are priced at twice the amount of the original line.
