Dove’s latest ads focus on healthcare workers battling COVID-19, with the message “Courage Is Beautiful.”
The idea came from WPP’s Ogilvy Canada ad agency spotting photos of healthcare workers on the front lines, taken by Italian photographer Alberto Giuliani, says Alessandro Manfredi, executive vice president of the global Dove brand.
“There was a feeling we got that courage is beautiful,” Manfredi told Ad Age, a sister publication of Modern Healthcare. “We thought why not try to show people who were doing this and also ask people to join us to thank these people who are risking their lives? We did it in, I have to say, four or five days. … It was the fastest campaign I ever saw in my entire life.”
The U.S. spot carries a tagline noting Dove’s donations to Direct Relief to care for U.S. healthcare workers. It’s part of parent Unilever’s global commitment of around $108 million in supplies and cash, which has also included donating 200,000 masks in New Jersey and a National Day of Service May 21, in which all essential items made in Unilever factories will be donated to relief efforts through Feeding America and other charities.
The U.S. ads include caregivers from SUNY Downstate Medical Center, George Washington Hospital, Virginia Hospital Center, Cleveland Clinic, Stanford University Hospital and UC Davis Hospital, as well as some from abroad, giving their names.
Dove is also rolling out ads to encourage hand-washing. The 30-second version includes a countdown of the 20 seconds it takes to wash hands properly, with the message: “We don’t care which soap you use, we care that you care.”
