2013 Winners & Shortlists

The Brief

Men in the Middle East are always portrayed as hard, manly characters. It’s all fast cars, sweat and machismo. Dove is historically a female brand and is proud of its caring roots. The challenge is how do you launch a male range of Dove products to men whilst maintaining this care positioning?

Creative Execution

We set up a surprise activation in cinemas across Dubai. Each man brought their wives, who had no idea what was about to happen. Before the film started their husbands came on the screen, in front of the entire cinema they opened their hearts and thanked their loved ones for all they do for them and the joy they bring. The wives were stunned, the audience was amazed and after posting the film on Youtube over 2.1 million people believed that real men do care and they are not afraid to show it.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

We broke down the stereotype and gave men the perfect opportunity to show their loved ones, and the world, that men of the Middle East are not affraid to show their caring side and that there is more to them than this macho stereotype. We chose a unique way to launch, by filming our surprise activation and seeding it virally online. We were looking for men and women to take notice and share the film with others.

Results

After launching the film in October 2012 we have generated over 2 million views on youtube, and consequently touched 4.7 million people so far. Just seeing it has challenged men to be more comfortable about showing acts of caring – exactly what was required for Dove Men+Care