Watch: Parody video skewers Dove-style ‘femvertising’ trend

This parody promo for an ad company devoted to “empowering women through advertising,” created by Canadian agency John St., offers a funny, biting critique of the so-called “femvertising” trend — epitomized by Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign  — that has become so popular in recent years. 

As we’ve explored before, as long as we live in a capitalist, consumer culture, there are things worth appreciating about this “girl power” trend in advertising. It’s certainly preferable to the slew of blatantly sexist ads that remain a staple of the marketing industry. I was glad, for example, that Always’s tear-jerking #LikeAGirl ad ran during the SuperBowl. And I’d be happy for the fictional “All hair is beautiful” campaign in the video to replace the real Veet’s “Body hair will literally turn you into a dude” one.

But as Alexandra has written of Dove’s brand of self-esteem boosting, such faux-empowerment may make you feel a little better about yourself today, “but doesn’t help create a better world.” And this spoof highlights how fine the line between empowerment and exploitation can be when companies are still relying on targeting women’s insecurities in order to “sell more stuff.” “They may not even know they have these insecurities,” one agency exec explains, “so it’s really important that we dig them up.”

If anyone has time to add a transcript in the comments, I’d be grateful!