Dove Teams Up With Mario Testino

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

The brand of skin care products Dove, has renewed its commitment to real beauty by announcing its Real Beauty Pledge, for which it had the help of the famous Peruvian photographer Mario Testino.

The firm has put in writing some of the most important points that are present in all its campaigns, as explained by the vice president of Dove Global, Sophie Galvani. "We always feature real women who represent the diversity of beauty around the world," she said at an event in New York. "We always present them as they really are, we do not retouch the images and the photos are approved by the women portrayed."

Several of the women portrayed for the campaign.

The third point of this manifesto is that through its Self-Esteem Project, which has been running for more than ten years, Dove carries out educational work, helping girls to have confidence in themselves. "Globally, 8 out of 10 girls decide to abandon important social activities when they don't feel good about their appearance," Galvani explained. “They stop going to the doctor, which turns into a health problem. They don't go to family gatherings, they stop playing sports…”. By 2020 they claim to have reached 20 million young people with their educational tools.

To reveal this commitment to real beauty, Dove had the lens of Mario Testino, who photographed 30 women from countries as diverse as Iran, Indonesia, Germany or Brazil, who have been part of the Self-Esteem Project in the past or in the present. Galvani explained that after seeing some snapshots that Testino took of the late Diana of Wales, he knew that the photographer knows how to get the best out of each woman. "He digs deeper than the surface," he said. “It really makes them feel beautiful. There is a mutual respect between Dove and Mario."

"When I accepted the job, I didn't know it wasn't to sell products, but to empower women," shared Testino. "This has made me realize that everyone is beautiful."

According to the photographer, who has immortalized the best models of several decades and has worked for the main fashion publications, “we have grown up with a preconceived idea of beauty. Everyone would stop my sister on the street [to tell her] how pretty she was. And I thought 'I must be ugly because nobody talks about me.'”

In his long career in the industry, Testino has learned the key to always looking beautiful. “The smile brings out the best in people. It is beauty from the inside out.”