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ARTICLE · 09 OCTOBER 2013

Dove

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The advert below featured on Linkedin yesterday together with an article entitled "Dove uses Photoshop Trojan Horse to shame potential body-shamers".

South AfricaMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Darren Olivier
Darren Olivier
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The advert below featured on Linkedin yesterday together with an article entitled "Dove uses Photoshop Trojan Horse to shame potential body-shamers". It is the story of Dove's viral message in its "real beauty" campaign but it is also a reminder of how a trade mark is able to have economic value that is independent of its traditional origin function, why trade mark laws need to have effective provisions to protect this value of the trade mark and also, whether manipulation of adverts is contrary to Advertising Standards Authority ("ASA") codes, or should be.

The advert cleverly and even ironically illustrates how brands are now so much more than a name identifying the origin of a product or service. In this example DOVE represents a cause that is communicated in a very clever way. For those that identify with the cause (just about everyone who feels inadequate paging through a magazine, I would imagine) will now (hopes DOVE) identify just as powerfully with the

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