This is something I am REALLY excited about. It is a first and I am going to be a part of it! Let me share my glee with you. Dove, one of my absolute favourite brands that I have tons of respect for, has done something totally unique – they have commissioned a play. Yup, this play on beauty and aging called Body & Soul was created by award-winning playwright Judith Thompson along with 13 real women who also star in the production. The play is taking a different look at a woman’s aging body and hopes to ultimately initiate discussion and change around how society views aging. LOVE it!!
So, when they invited me to attend opening night on May 10th I didn’t want to go alone so, after I called my mom to be my date for this Mother’s Day event, I decided to give away 3 pairs of tickets to some lucky urbanmoms.ca members! Unfortunately, as the play is in Toronto at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts, only T.O. locals can apply. And how do you get lucky? Simple. Just submit a comment below on why you would love to go and then I will use the Randomizer to select the 3 lucky winners who will receive a pair of tickets. I will let you know by this Saturday who the winners are so make sure to include your email address!
Curious about this show? So was I so I asked a few questions and Dove pro•age Brand Manager, Margaret McKellar, answered:
1. The members of urbanmoms.ca have always expressed a huge amount of respect for the Dove brand since the launch of the Real Beauty campaign. How does the brand continue to stay true to this message?
Thank you. We have received a lot of genuine, positive feedback from women of all ages around the world in response to the Campaign for Real Beauty.
As you may know, Dove was inspired by findings of The Real Truth About Beauty: A Global Report. This study told us that women want to see more diverse images of physical attractiveness and images that reflect the vision of beauty women have, versus the one currently portrayed in popular culture. That study also told us that only 2% of women describe themselves as beautiful.
We therefore launched the Campaign for Real Beauty – and, later, the Dove Self-Esteem Fund – to serve as an agent of change to educate and inspire girls and women on a wider definition of beauty and to make them feel more confident about themselves. In everything we do, we maintain our singular focus on this mission.
2. I have never heard of a brand commissioning a show. Is Dove the first to do this?
As far as we know, this is an industry first.
At Dove, we’re always looking for new and different ways to engage with Canadians and spark dialogue and debate. body & soul is the latest example of this.
3. What does the Dove brand hope to gain from Body and Soul?
Through body & soul, Dove is bringing to life the dialogue about aging that we have been engaging women in since the launch of our pro•age line of products last year.
Our mission is to inspire the women in the play, and all those who see it, hear about it and become involved, to celebrate aging and abandon the idea of anti-aging. We hope that women feel inspired by the idea behind the play – that mature women are beautiful and have a wonderful voice that is meant to be heard.
4. Are you at all concerned that branding the show might turn people off?
The show is intended to spread our pro•age philosophy: celebrating the diverse beauty of mature women and demonstrating that beauty has no age limit. We believe that this will resonate strongly both with women who hear about the play and women who attend it.
5. On urbanmoms.ca we have celebrated all of the Real Beauty ads, the Dove Self-Esteem Fund, and the positioning of ProAge. What do we have to look forward to from this progressive brand?
At Dove, we continue to seek out new ways to share our democratic view of beauty.
Next up: on June 7, Dove is bringing together moms, mentors and thousands of young girls to take part in simultaneous Sleepovers for Self-Esteem. To join the party, and help us make sleepover history, please visit www.dovesleepover.ca.