Dove ties up with Getty Images & Girlgaze to launch Project #ShowUs 

Dove has partnered with Getty Images and Girlgaze to launch Project #ShowUs, the first publicly accessible photo library to shatter beauty stereotypes by showing women as they are, not as others believe they should be. The library has 116 female-identifying and non-binary photographers from across 39 countries who have worked together to create the largest stock library, featuring over 5,000 images of women to showcase an inclusive vision of beauty for all. These images available now for the media and advertising industries to view, licence and use in their next project or campaign. 

“Dove understands the impact unrealistic images of beauty can have on a women’s body confidence and their subsequent ability to reach their full potential. For over 60 years, we have believed in liberating women from narrow beauty ideals and have showcased beauty diversity in our advertising. However, this is not enough, and we cannot make the systemic change we need alone,” said Sophie Galvani, Global Vice President, Dove. 

“We have spent over a year creating the world’s largest image bank of over 5,000 beauty images breaking beauty stereotypes, and we are now inviting media and advertisers to license the images and join us to take real tangible action. The images have been created and self-tagged by women themselves and as well as asking media and advertisers to licence them for their upcoming projects, we are also offering women around the world the opportunity to become part of the change and add their images to the library,” Galvani added. 

Research from the Dove Research study shows that women across the world feel there is limited diversity in how women are portrayed in images in the media. Nearly 78 per cent of women in India do not feel represented by everyday images and 79 per cent wish that media and advertisers did a better job of portraying women of diverse appearance – including age, race, shape and size.  About 74 per cent Indian women say the pressure from media and advertising drives anxiety around appearance and beauty in general. Furthermore, 42 per cent say they personally feel worse about themselves when they look at beautiful women in magazines.

Talking about Dove’s commitment towards breaking the beauty stereotypes, Sandeep Kohli, Executive Director and VP Beauty and Personal Care, Hindustan Unilever said, “Everything Dove does is rooted in the mission to make beauty an inclusive experience for all– Project #ShowUs is our most ambitious project to date and a big investment we wanted to make to trigger meaningful change at a societal level. Through this project, we want to shatter beauty stereotypes by showing women as they are, not as others believe they should be. This is just the beginning and we are hoping more creative and media professionals join us in this movement, as this commitment needs to be widespread.” 

Project #ShowUs is part of Unilever’s commitment to UN Women’s Unstereotype Alliance – a cross-industry global initiative which uses the power of advertising and media to free the world from harmful stereotypes that hold back people and society.