Real moms break the cycle of beauty tests in Dove's 'Mothermonials' campaign

For the past three years, Dove has been at the forefront of a transformative movement in India with its #StopTheBeautyTest campaign. The multi-year initiatives have been dedicated to challenge beauty biases faced by women, particularly within the context of arranged marriages. In the third edition of the series, Dove unveils the experiences of four mothers who inspire change by rewriting their daughters’ matrimonials to be free of beauty biases and introduces  ‘mothermonials’. 

The campaign builds on a poignant yet sharp insight that in the biodatas circulated within family groups, daughters are solely described basis of their height, weight and colour. With  #TheBeautyTestStopsWithMe, Dove aims to redefine matrimonials, converting them to ‘mothermonials’ this year. 

These ‘mothermonials’ aim to be holistic narrations of their daughter’s personality, preferences,  achievements and ambitions - challenging the excessive emphasis on external appearances. In doing so,  mothers of prospective brides change the narrative for their daughters so they can have a more positive experience in finding life partners, unlike the experiences they’ve had.  

Dove sparked the conversation first in 2021 by highlighting the ‘beauty tests’ women face through the real-life stories of four young women while finding a partner in marriage. The second edition (2022) of the campaign delved into the ‘beauty report cards’ for marriage that adolescent girls receive early on,  which perpetuate appearance-based anxieties throughout their lives and impact their self-esteem. This year, with #TheBeautyTestStopsWithMe, Dove takes one step forward and calls on mothers and daughters to lead by example, inviting them to join the movement and change the way matrimonials are written. 

As part of the initiative, Dove has released four films, born from heartfelt conversations with Ms. Subhashini, Ms. Sudarshana, Ms. Ritu and Ms. Monica - four mothers from across the nation - that highlight the pervasive nature of beauty biases in arranged marriages.  

Dove has partnered with a leading media house and Mindshare to enable moms and daughters write customized mothermonials by harnessing artificial intelligence. The platform enables grooms to connect with brides based on education, hobbies and quirks, rather than height, weight colour.  

In addition to this the Dove Self-Esteem Project (DSEP) in partnership with UNICEF, aims to reach over  23 million girls and boys in schools in India by 2026. Through the educational material designed for this program, Dove aims to improve students’ knowledge and skills that help them enhance body confidence and self-esteem. 

Sharing more insight, Harman Dhillon, Executive Director, Hindustan Unilever, and Beauty and Well Being General Manager, Unilever South Asia, said, “Dove is on a mission to ensure the next generation grows up with body confidence, self-esteem, and a positive relationship with the way they look. Through these campaigns, Dove has urged and provoked the country to stop the beauty test for two years now. In  2024, we continue to build on our efforts by encouraging mothers to lead the change and daughters to challenge the very format of biodata that is the perpetrator of beauty-based biases. We aim to revolutionize traditional matrimonials into empowering ‘mothermonials’ that inspire society to see daughters beyond stereotypes. Through this campaign and the Dove Self-Esteem Project, Dove is committed to taking tangible actions that help address biases and inspire body confidence amongst  young girls and women.” 

Zenobia Pithawalla - Senior Executive Creative Director & Mihir Chanchani - Executive Creative  Director, Ogilvy added “In our country even today parents put out matrimonial ads or biodatas for their eligible daughters. Tall, slim and fair rear their ugly heads in the first two lines. At Dove, we approached mothers who wanted her daughter’s matrimonial ad to be different from hers. These mothers of India joined hands with us to write matrimonial ads without beauty biases. We brought mothers on the frontline, to protect every daughter of India from the ugly Beauty Test. With this began the change from  Matrimonials to Mothermonials.”