Dove - Thought Before Action / Fake photoshop action stunt

Dove Canada decided to get generous in their latest idea in the campaign for real beauty, they offered a "photo effect" filter action set on the usual suspects' blogs for free download so that the laziest of designers could with one click add "glow" to a person's skin. The idea is that art directors, designers et all will be downloading this and applying it to images of ladies.

The action did not do what was advertised, instead, it reverted every change already made to the image - the horrors! - and probably pissed off a lot of people along the way (before they remembered CMD-Z!)

Unlike previous campaigns for real beauty, which showed alternative beautiful women than the usual skinny teen model variants, essentially arming the visual jockeys in various industries with new beauty they could convince their clients to use, whilst making women of all shapes and ages feel a little better about their own personal variant of beauty - this campaign seems to chide all us art directors & designers. Mock us even, for trying to get an impossible client request done on time with a one-click filter.

It feels like you picked the wrong target here, Dove. We're on your side, you know.

In this little stunt, the consumer you previously empowered with your controversial billboards depicting women in all shapes, is never engaged.

In Evolution you showed what photoshop can do, teaching the unaware consumer what they are really looking at in magazines.

What have you achieved with this stunt, apart from a possible future award?

Ah, I see you already made a spot for it on your shelf.

Yes, I suppose it'll look nice there.

Dove