Dove Soap collaborated with Unreal Engine to combat the statistic that says 75% of women feel underrepresented in video games. They started a campaign going back to September of last year to deal with the apparent issue. A commercial for this campaign that may have been released a few months ago has recently resurfaced and gone viral.
The entirely computer-generated commercial features a female character slaying some sort of monster in the opening few seconds. After the monster is successfully slayed, the scene cuts to the woman taking off her restrictive battle armor to reveal a much pudgier person underneath. She sits in what looks like a computer chair and rolls around, comfortably. The woman then goes right back into the “game” by grabbing a sword and heading through her bedroom door. Only this time, she does not put on the restrictive garments. She lets it all hang out. Her body style is overweight at best and obese at worst.
The commercial closes out with a few statements from Dove about the direction of their campaign. The final scene shows the video game character next to her real-life counterpart. The message is that women are over-sexualized in unrealistic ways in gaming and that typical women look more like the pudgy person in the game who is a carbon copy of a real-life person.
This advertising campaign is nothing more than another slice of the body-positive moment that seeks to normalize obesity and unhealthy lifestyles. It is also something that is truly aimed at men since women do not generally play video games in the same way that men do. Men consume gaming that is generated by an Unreal Engine. Women consume gaming on cell phones with experiences like Candy Crush or the Kim Kardashian app. Typically. Beautiful body types of women in gaming are there for the pleasure of the 80 to 90% male audience, not for the women to feel like they are being represented.
SOURCES:
Dove Partners with Epic Games to Challenge the Representation of Women in Games
Beauty product Dove teams up with Unreal Engine and Women in Games to “change the game” and boost diversity | GamesRadar+
