Teens don’t always say what they mean, especially when they’re asked, “How are you going?” or “How was your day?”. Behind the answers, “I’m fine,” and “It was fine,” can be a completely different story of insecurities, anxieties and conflict.
Ogilvy UK and Sweetshop director, Andrew Lang, have created an animated series of films that unveil what “I’m fine” can cover up. The series supports Dove’s partnership with Cartoon Network’s Steven Universe series, which began in April this year. In this series, Dove works with the show’s animators and writer, Rebecca Sugar, to create original shorts for broadcast using the show’s characters to help educate kids and build body confidence.
The ads, directed by Lang with animation directed by Frankie Swan at Picasso, are running in the US, Brazil, Mexico and France. For each film, the talent was found and cast following a general call for stories. The aim was to find girls whose own tales had universal insights, and yet were unique, personal and urged audiences to pay attention.
Each girl is turned into an animated character, and raps about her inner battles with self-esteem over the cartoon that illustrates them. In the US film, New York teen, Nesida, voices her worries about fitting in, her hair and selfies.
The ads are running in social and digital channels and cinemas across the UK, France and Brazil. Each includes a call to action using the hashtag, #ConfidentGirl. The campaign is part of the wider Dove Self-Esteem Project, which the Unilever brand is running in 140 countries around the world, with the aim of reaching 40 million young people by 2020.
Credits
Agency: Ogilvy UK
Executive Creative Directors: Andre Laurentino & Gerald Lewis
Creative Team: Matt Nankivell, Vik Kanyo & Ollie Jarrott
TV producer: Lora Jane Brisland
Print producer: Chloe Jahanshahi
Account Team: Cathy Sadiner, Sam Pierce, Georgie Howard & Carmen Vicente Soto
Strategy Team: Sandy Thompson & Joshua Crost
Production Company: Sweetshop
Director: Andrew Lang
Producer: Justin Edmund-White
Animation Director: Frankie Swan @ Picasso
Animation Producer: Melissa Venet
DOP: Ula Pontikos
Editor: Gary Forrester @ The Quarry
Colourist: Oisin O’Driscoll @ The Mill
Post Producer: Jake Saunders @ Unit
Sound Design: Jamie Thomas @ Unit
Composers: Huntsmen Music
Photographer: Kitty Gale, represented by Gill Turner
Client: Dove
Client Brand Team: Sophie Galvani, Dinara Bekmansurova & Hannah Burns
