Diving overview:
- According to a press release from the Unilever brand, the Dove Self-Esteem Project today (April 12) launched the Kids Online Safety initiative to address the rise in social media-related mental health issues among young people. A campaign has been launched.
- As part of the campaign, the Dove Initiative is collaborating with musician Lizzo, Common Sense Media, and ParentsTogether Action to support standards, safeguards, and tools to protect children’s online experiences and limit their exposure.Children Online Safety 2023 (KOSA). Toxic beauty content.
- To reinforce its latest purpose-driven efforts to make social media a more positive environment, Dove is launching a 3-minute short film “Cost of Beauty” that tells the true story of a young person whose mental health has been impacted by social media. ‘ was released. .
Dive Insight:
The latest initiative in the long-running Dove Self-Esteem Project focuses on legislative action that will help brands and consumers go beyond what they can do on their own to protect children and young people from the negative effects of social media on their mental health. is guessing. health.
The centerpiece of the new campaign is Cost of Beauty: A Dove Film, a three-minute film that tells the true story of Mary, a young woman who developed an eating disorder after being exposed to toxic beauty content on social media. Set to a version of “You Are So Beautiful,” the heart-string-tugging video shows how she has overcome this ordeal, until Mary reveals that she is currently in recovery from her eating disorder. This suggests that there was no such thing. The video ends with several survivors and their parents who have real mental health issues.
The Kids Online Safety campaign builds on Dove’s new research documenting the impact social media has on young people’s mental health, with 8 in 10 experts saying social media is fueling the mental health crisis. It states that Not only do 80% of young people believe their peers are addicted to social media, but more than half say social media makes them or their peers feel unsafe.
This issue is particularly acute when it comes to how social media influences body image issues and related behaviors, and is the focus of Dove’s work. Seven in 10 10- to 17-year-olds are exposed to social media content that encourages weight loss or body modification, and more than half of 14- to 17-year-olds are exposed to content that encourages restrictive or disordered eating behaviors. exposed to
The main goal of the new campaign, which teamed up Dove, frequent partner and body-positive musician Lizzo, and two advocacy groups, has so far been removed from committee but not passed by the full Senate. The goal is to move KOSA forward. Probably because of the pressure. Big Tech’s participation was decided at the suggestion of co-sponsor Senator Richard Blumenthal (Democratic Party). The KOSA bill calls for greater transparency in social media apps and algorithms, as well as obligations for social media platforms to prevent and reduce some harms to minors.
This campaign follows Dove’s previous initiatives from 2021, including the ‘Selfie Talk’ and #NoDigitalDistortion push. While these efforts leveraged Dove’s marketing power to drive conversation and consumer action, the Campaign for Children’s Online Safety goes even further.
“Certain aspects of social media may foster creativity and connection in young people, but data shows that harmful content online is harming the mental health of today’s young people. “Without real change, young people will continue to pay for their health,” Dove CMO Alessandro Manfredi said in a press release. “We have a responsibility to act and support a safer environment on social media and protect the mental health of young people. This means moving beyond individual intervention and driving systemic change. To do.”