In a world full of paid praise and sponsored positivity, it’s increasingly difficult to know who and what to trust. Dove has long stood for what’s real. So, continuing that commitment, the brand is putting its reputation directly in the hands of some of the toughest – and most honest – critics on the internet, Reddit.
Designed to cut through the noise of overly polished beauty testimonials, Dove is challenging conventional beauty marketing once again. The campaign empowers creators and influencers to share their honest, transparent experiences – whether positive or critical – in sponsored content. Something other brands haven’t dared to do.
The campaign underlines Dove’s confidence in its most-awarded hair mask of 2025 and was created by DAVID London alongside AKQA Paris and WPP Media. Dove invited the Reddit online community to review the Dove Intensive Repair 10-in-1 Serum Mask, promising to publish their feedback unfiltered and unscripted – even if it was negative. A subreddit post asking for reviews quickly attracted hundreds of comments and upvotes, revealing both praise and critique, including comments such as, “Please don’t ever change this product!!!!!” and “I hate the smell, it’s like an old lady.”
Dove Hair then built an entire campaign from these reviews, taking them out of Reddit and onto the streets and social media – in guerrilla out-of-home placements across the most honest city of all, New York, and digital OOH, and in testimonial-style films in which Redditors read their reviews verbatim, the campaign brings real voices to life at scale, with additonal campaign elements to come.
Aptly named, r/eal reviews, the campaign is inspired by Reddit’s subreddit display format and stays true to the platform’s community-driven environment. Each Redditor’s customised Snoovatar is used across campaign assets to uphold anonymity while remaining unmistakably authentic.
“The Reddit universe plays by its own rules, so being able to work directly with Redditors and drop the usual scripts and guardrails for a brand as iconic as Dove was incredibly exciting,” stated Genevieve Gransden, executive creative director at DAVID London.
“Entering the comments section is always a risk, but for our first work with DAVID London, we wanted to do something that didn’t play it safe,” added fellow executive creative director, Selma Ahmed.
“We wanted to build on Dove’s heritage of real women’s testimonials—but reinvent what a testimonial means today,” added Berengere Loubatier, senior global brand VP for Dove Hair & Skin Care. “That meant grounding the campaign in real community voices, not scripted endorsements. Choosing unfiltered feedback from some of the internet’s most honest critics wasn’t the easiest choice, but it was the most authentic one. Not only because we truly believe in our 10‑in‑1 Hair Mask, but also because real is what Dove stands for—and real earns trust.”
“It’s rare to see a brand take Redditors’ words and use them verbatim, without edits or filters, as part of a national campaign,” commented Courtney Pappas, industry manager, CPG, Reddit. “We’re proud to provide users with an honest and authentic platform to share feedback, and we’re excited by how the r/eal Reviews campaign has energised our community to engage with Dove in a way they don’t normally with brands.”
