ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., March 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 33 million women made over advertising that highlighted their insecurities and impacted their self-esteem as part of the Dove^® Ad Makeover in 2012. In celebration of International Women's Day, Dove^® announced that women in the United States of America will once again have a voice to fight back against ads about muffin tops and belly bulges, and instead can support positive beauty messaging thanks to the Dove^® beauty brand. 

Due to an incredibly positive response from American women, Dove^® is re-launching the Ad Makeover campaign in 19 countries in celebration of International Women's Day, a global movement to inspire women and celebrate their achievements.  The Dove^® Ad Makeover will pass the power of advertising to women, by empowering them to send positive messages to other women through a Facebook application, which can be found at www.facebook.com/Dove.  This app has the potential to, once again, reach millions of females with positive messages and give women (and men) the unique chance to spread positive advertising across the U.S.A.

Sadly, only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful.^[1]  Dove^® wants to inspire all women to reach their full beauty potential, and is committed to creating a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety.  A Dove^® global study found that 80% of women agree that every woman has something about her that is beautiful, but do not see their own beauty ^[1].  The Dove^® Ad Makeover will reinforce the beauty women see in others by giving them the opportunity to share positive messages with women beyond their personal network, freeing women from criticizing online ads that chip away at their self-esteem.

"Dove has always listened to women and we feel that International Women's Day is the perfect time to once again inspire them by bringing our Ad Makeover Facebook app to America and to 18 countries around the world," said Rob Candelino, Vice President, Unilever Skincare. "We chose Facebook because of its power and reach in social media, which would propel these positive beauty messages to be seen by as many women as possible."

Pumping Positivity Into The Social Sphere
The Dove^® Ad Makeover gives women the power to take on potentially negative ads with messages that help women feel beautiful. Dove^® is using auction-style bidding systems used to purchase ads on many online sites to increase the number of positive messages women see.  Women (and men) can select from one of eight positive beauty messages to appear in available ad space on Facebook.  These words to live by such as, "Your birthday suit suits you," "Everybody is beautiful" and "The perfect bum is the one you're sitting on," are just some of the positive beauty messages women across America will receive, thanks to Dove^®.

The Real Beauty Ripple Effect
Women can see the ripple effect their beauty message has had across the nation on Facebook (also at www.Dove.com and www.youtube.com/Dove).  The Dove^® Ad Makeover program has already reached more than 33 million women in countries including the UK, Australia and Brazil and a counter on the Facebook app will track the total number of women who receive positive beauty messages in celebration of International Women's Day. Dove^® will cover the cost to help spread all positive beauty messages created.  The Dove^® Ad Makeover app allows for:

• A notification that an ad story has been published to be posted to participant's timeline
• Participant to choose keywords that describe other women who should see the ad story (from health and travel to fashion and beauty); message is published throughout women's Facebook experience
• Participant can opt to send app to friend(s) timeline

Women can visit Facebook.com/Dove to access the Dove^® Ad Makeover app and send a positive ad.  They can also tweet @Dove using the hashtag #admakeover to show support for the campaign, which will kick-off on International Women's Day, March 8^th, 2013.

About Dove^®
Dove^®, manufactured by Unilever, is the No. 1 personal wash brand nationwide.  One in every three households uses a Dove product^[2], which includes beauty bars, body washes, face care, anti-perspirant/deodorants, body mists, hair care and styling aids. Dove^®  Men+Care™ is the newest range of products from Dove^®, developed specially for men. Dove^®  is available nationwide in food, drug and mass outlet stores.

About Unilever North America
Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong operations in more than 100 countries and sales in 190. With products that are used over two billion times a day around the world, we work to create a better future every day and help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others. In the United States and Canada the portfolio includes brand icons such as: Axe, Becel, Ben & Jerry's, Bertolli, Breyers, Caress, Clear Scalp & Hair Therapy, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, fds, Good Humor, Hellmann's, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Klondike, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Magnum, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond's, Popsicle, Promise, Q-tips, Ragu, Simple, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Soft & Beautiful, St. Ives, Suave, tcb, TIGI, TRESemme, Vaseline, and Wish-Bone. All of the preceding brand names are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies. Dedicated to serving consumers and the communities where we live, work and play, Unilever employs more than 13,000 people across North America – generating over $9 billion in sales in 2011. For more information visit www.unileverusa.com or www.unilever.ca.

^[1] Dove Research: The Real Truth About Beauty: Revisited: http://www.dove.us/Social-Mission/Self-Esteem-Statistics.aspx
^[2] AC Nielsen (2010)

Contact
Sharelyn Devonish
Edelman
212-704-8280
sharelyn.devonish@edelman.com

Stacie Bright
Unilever
stacie.bright@unilever.com

SOURCE Dove