For Dove, ‘Beauty never gets old’ but the ideas aren’t always so fresh

Why do older women have to be batty and eccentric to be deemed worthy of our attention?

This campaign for Dove is all about age positivity and resisting the pressure to chase youth. That’s good in theory, but does it mean you have to stand on your head, play guitar, wear loud clothing, or eat takeaways in the bath to distract people from your wrinkles?

Sure, these women are enjoying life in their own way, and good on them, but they aren’t really role models. They’re shown here as being outside of society, not unlike the “miserable, childless cat ladies” that vice presidential candidate JD Vance loves to dismiss.

Edelman, the agency behind the campaign, doesn’t see it like this of course. ECD and EVP Megan Skelly said: “What better way to fight the stigma of age than to increase the visibility of the legions of beautiful, glamorous, confident, badass women for girls and women to look up to.”

Skelly adds: “If this is what ageing looks like, what are we afraid of? Stigma and bias against ageing (among other things) still prevails in media and advertising, presenting us with one stereotype after another. We didn’t make this up. This is what ageing today looks like: it’s full of joy, style, strength and attitude.”

The big TV spot is backed by creator deals and paid media across social, digital and television. There will also be OOH takeovers in New York and Los Angeles, and a tie-in with reality series Golden Bachelor later this year.

If you want to challenge the stigma around ageing, make confident older women a part of society, not a curiosity. Because “joy, style, strength and attitude” don’t have to shout quite so loudly.

MAA creative scale: 3