Dove has some great ads for their pro-age line. I love how they recruited women in their 50s and 60s. How refreshing to see real women! It’s also great that they call it pro-age rather than anti-age.

Nevertheless, I’ve heard many call it a clever marketing ploy; and by the looks of it, it may be.

If age doesn’t matter and older women are so beautiful, why do they need a special product line? Then again, advertising is based on creating false needs — on making people feel insecure enough to “need” a product. Dove is a company and must sell, so I suppose it’s unfair to expect them to ditch all manipulative tactics.

Here are some of the product descriptions:

Dove created pro·age™ products that reflect the unique needs of women in their best years. Formulated to nourish and condition, pro·age helps revive and renew skin and hair.

Dove pro·age, offers a full line of products that give aging skin what it needs right now: improved surface cell turnover, hydrating nourishment and moisturizing protection.

In their “best years” should women be pressured to prioritize beauty? Should they be made to feel insecure about their skin or hair? And notice how they use the word “needs” in the descriptions. (Remember what I said about false needs?)

Sigh, I feel conflicted. Does anyone else see what I mean? What do you all think?