Culture Jamming: Unilever

Being faced with the topic of culture jamming, I was reminded of a news story I saw many moons ago about the growing controversy between the distinctly different Dove and Axe ads - the former embracing real beauty, and the later embracing the opposite. However, this wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for one major, often overlooked, detail: both Dove and Axe are brands owned by Unilever, a multi-national, multi-million dollar company, with over four hundred different brands under its belt (Introducing Unilever, Par. 1)

A man named Rye Clifton noticed this, and in a brilliant act of culture jamming, remade a Dove ad called “Onslaught” in an attempt to expose Unilever’s hypocritical messages. Below is the original “Onslaught” ad:



Here is Rye Clifton’s version:



Mr. Clifton works in the field of marketing and resides in Virginia (CNN). In regards to his video, he told the Toronto Star that he was simply trying to “add to the conversation that was already happening online” (2007). However, his video, which has a running time of only one minute and twenty-three seconds, made such an impact that it was featured on a CNN news broadcast.

I for one am thankful for Mr. Clifton’s culture jamming, as it helped shed some much needed light on Unilever’s hypocritical ways. Sadly, when confronted with the backlash resulted from the escalating Dove/Axe controversy, Anita Larson, Unilever spokeswoman, remarked that the Axe ads were “clearly spoofs” (LA Times Par. 5) She also went on to say that the Dove ads were “dedicated to making women feel more beautiful” (LA Times, Par. 6).

Even though Unilever denies any wrong doing, I still believe culture jamming is a valid and much needed form of expression. It gets an opinion across to the masses, and causes people to stop and question what is going on around them. Mr. Clifton's culture jam definitely opened my eyes, and made me question Dove's so-called Campaign for Real Beauty, a campaign which I previously supported.

"Introducing Unilever." 2008. 20 Nov 2008 < http://www.unilever.com/ourcompany/aboutunilever/introducingunilever/?linkid=navigation >.

Semuels, Alana. "Group has Axe to grind with Unilever ." Los Angeles Times. 10 Oct 2007. 20 Nov 2008 < http://articles.latimes.com/2007/oct/10/business/fi-unilever10 >.

Wells, Jennifer. "Taking the Axe to Unilever." The Toronto Star. 27 Nov 2007. 20 Nov 2008 < http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/280524 >.