A Few Days Late

I know that the Super Bowl was half a week ago, but I am choosing to talk about it now. Commercials are a big part of the game, that's a given. I have to admit that there were some pretty funny ones, but it wasn't the cell phone theft deterrent (Sprint) or the pony getting help pulling the wagon (Budweiser) that I would rate number one. There was a more serious commercial that caught me attention above all others. It was a commercial for Dove.

The commercial was actually for a campaign that Dove is running called "Campaign For Real Beauty". Here is the link to the commercial: http://www.campaignforrealbeauty.com/commercial.asp?src=homecommerciallink
I found this very powerful given my own personal struggles with self-esteem.

It is about time that a company starts taking responsibility for girls' self-esteem rather than trashing it with crack skinny models who are unhealthy and airbrushed. There are millions of little girls out there that need to hear that how they look is okay and that models, actresses and 'teen queens' aren't always people to look up to or be like. I have been so busy that I haven't taken the time to check out the rest of the website yet, but I would venture to guess that it has some really great information on it, especially if you have young girls.

Thinking back a couple weeks, I was watching Dr. 90210 and there was a mother who let her 17 year old get breast augmentation done (a D cup no less) in order to increase her self-esteem. Seriously! I mean SERIOUSLY! That was absolutely ridiculous. She should have been reinforcing how beautiful her young daughter was, not indulging in such a crazy thing as bigger breasts. That was one of many moments recently that helped me to change my thinking of what media marketing is doing to people mentally.

A friend of mine has also helped rearrange the structure of my thoughts. She pointed out on one of those chain e-mail questionnaires that she would not answer a question regarding her least favorite thing about herself. She said, "Don't like this question. Us gals are way too critical on ourselves. It's a conscious effort every day to ignore the negative voices in my head. Least fave thing? My schizophrenia!" I have been trying to change how I think ever since! Thanks A!!!

If I didn't already use Dove soap, I would certainly buy it the next time I went to the store. I think that we need to support the companies actually trying to help the youth of our country rather than simply getting them to talk mommy and daddy into buying products for them. The Dove commercial may not have made the top ten with the Super Bowl commercial raters, but from a girl who has struggled with self-esteem her whole life, it gets the number one spot!