Challenge
Dove, long committed to portraying real women with honesty and diversity, faced a new threat as AI-generated imagery began to reinforce narrow, unrealistic beauty standards.
As AI models trained
on internet archives, they perpetuated outdated ideals, making it harder for women to see themselves represented authentically online.
A global study revealed
that 1 in 3 women felt pressured to alter their appearance due to these online standards.
Dove’s challenge was twofold: honor its legacy of inclusive beauty while ensuring that emerging AI technologies reflected and promoted true diversity, countering the rise of artificial, stereotypical beauty norms.
Idea
To address this, Dove launched an innovative campaign celebrating the 20th anniversary of its Real Beauty Pledge. Dove discovered that including phrases like “according to Dove real beauty campaign” in AI image prompts led to more inclusive outputs, proving the brand’s positive influence on AI learning models.
Through an AI-driven partnership
with Pinterest, Dove created the “Real Beauty DNA” tool, enabling women to define beauty on their own terms by selecting diverse images and inner traits (e.g., “Brave,” “Creative”).
This interactive experience
not only generated personalized, shareable videos but also actively retrained Pinterest’s AI algorithm, reshaping users’ feeds to reflect authentic, diverse beauty.
Beyond the Real Beauty DNA Tool, Dove extended its message of keeping beauty real through a multi-channel campaign, leveraging OOH, TV, Print, Social (including other media on Pinterest) and Video to reach women and drive awareness of how AI can impact our perceptions of beauty.
Results
Brand lift studies showed increased association with Dove’s “Real Beauty” values across all major platforms.
Most importantly, Dove transformed millions of women’s Pinterest search experiences, reaffirming its legacy as a trailblazer in inclusive beauty and setting a new standard for responsible AI-driven content.
The campaign achieved significant impact:
787
Million impressions delivered
27
Million people reached on Pinterest
21.4%
Engagement rates for women, higher than Pinterest benchmarks
29
Million impressions driven from a homepage takeover
