Dive Brief:

• Dove has teamed with Drew Barrymore to combat a social media trend that has seen young girls prematurely flock to anti-aging skincare products, per news shared with Marketing Dive.
• #TheFaceof10 campaign aims to boost the self-esteem of kids who are showing early signs of anxiety over their looks. In new sponsored posts, Barrymore, a mother of two daughters, recollects her upbringing in the makeup chair as a child actor but argues that the fixation on anti-aging has gone too far.      
• The Unilever-owned marketer has also partnered with experts to develop a guide for navigating discussions about anti-aging with members of Gen Alpha. The strategy reinforces Dove’s positioning around inspiring confidence and potentially gives the brand an advantage over rivals who have inadvertently landed in the middle of a hot-button issue. 

Dive Insight:

As social media’s deleterious effects on teen mental health are fiercely debated, Dove is tackling a worrying trend that’s relevant to its personal care business. Some girls in the Gen Alpha and Gen Z range have begun obsessing over premium anti-aging products like Drunk Elephant and rushing to retailers to try them on. While these brands don’t explicitly market themselves to tweens, they’ve been swept up in the ensuing controversy. 

Dove is using the moment to strengthen its purpose-led marketing initiatives that tackle the downsides of social media on young girls’ self-image. Dove estimates that nearly one-quarter of girls between 10 and 17 years old feel judged about their appearance.

“When did 10-year-olds start worrying about wrinkles and getting older? It is time to speak up to highlight the absurdity and protect their self-esteem,” said Firdaous El Honsali, global vice president of Dove, in a statement. 

The Unilever mainstay has its own line of anti-aging offerings and could distance itself from potential backlash by taking a stand now while getting a leg up on competitors. The company for decades has run a Self-Esteem Project dedicated to body confidence. 

To that end, the marketer has teamed up with Barrymore on a series of sponsored social posts where the actor and talk show host frankly discusses her view on the matter. In #TheFaceof10 videos, Barrymore details how she spent much of her upbringing around beauty and cosmetics but tried to focus on the fun sides, like applying glitter and stickers to her face. She pushes back against the concept of anti-aging broadly, noting that getting old is a privilege not everyone gets to experience. 

“You will never anti-age. If you’re lucky, you’ll actually get to age,” said Barrymore in an Instagram video. “But young girls, they don’t need anything anti-aging.”

In addition, Dove has enlisted body image expert and psychologist Phillippa Diedrichs and dermatologist Marisa Garshick to create “The Gen A Anti-Aging Talk,” a video on its social channels that provides assistance in discussing a sensitive topic with Gen Alpha. Dermatologist Mona Gohara also worked with the brand. 

#TheFaceof10 push builds on a busy year for Dove on the marketing front. The soap and skincare maker returned to the Super Bowl for the first time in 18 years in February with a spot carrying a positive message around keeping young girls in sports.