Dove ad slams Japanese beauty ideals, backfires with complaints from public instead [Video]

“No more kawaii standards” draws backlash in Japan.

In 2004, personal care brand Dove launched the Dove Self-Esteem Project to empower women to love themselves at any shape, age or size, and it’s since grown to become the largest body-confidence education provider in the world, expanding its reach to over 153 countries, including Japan.

Its latest awareness campaign in Japan, however, hit a snag because although it aimed to denigrate local beauty standards and ideals for the betterment of women, it worked to aggravate a number of locals instead.

According to Dove, the “No more kawaii standards” campaign is “a wake-up call against ideals of beauty that can have a negative impact on children“, with its purpose being to foster a greater sense of self-confidence in young people by encouraging them to disagree with these ideals. The brand is going above and beyond in spreading the message, with a series of ads being posted in one of Tokyo’s busiest …