Friday, May 12, 2017

Note to Dove, no one notices packaging until it goes wrong - just ask Tropicana.



That's not entirely true of course.  Graphic designers notice.  But for the rest of us, packaging changes come and go and are rarely acknowledged.

Unfortunately mistakes transcend complacency.  When Tropicana changed their packaging in 2009, sales dropped 20% in less than two months.  (Zmuda, 2017)

Of course their situation was a bit worse since their packaging change meant that I could no longer recognize my favorite product on the store shelf.

But do I really need to be reminded of my figure flaws every time I moisturize?  That doesn't sound very empowering to me.  And for a brand that prides itself on appealing to real women?  What were you thinking?   




The consumer insight for this brand was that only 2% of women think they're beautiful.  Based on this Dove said they wanted to expand the definition of beautiful.  How does this move accomplish that?  Seems like a clear case of body shaming to me.

At least it's a limited edition, in the UK.  But that didn't stop Twitter from weighing in.

You can see the tweets here...

Now we'll let the market decide.  I can't wait to see what happens.


Zmuda, N. (2009, April 2)  Tropicana Line's Sales Plunge 20% Post-Rebranding.  adage.com.  retrieved April 3, 2009, from

Beer, J. (2017, May 8)  Dove Matches Its New Body Wash Bottles To Your Body Type - UPDATE - And People Hate it.  fastcompany.com.  retrieved May 12, 2017, from

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