I showed this commercial for Dove Body Wash For Men to my husband, and he said 'even a chimpanzee could make the right decision in this commercial.' I am inclined to agree with him and personally, if I was a guy, I would find this vaguely insulting. He also said that it was a bit like asking a guy whether they would prefer a motorbike or a regular bike and not being sure what the answer was going to be. Hmm.
Dove asks Jay Wright, a head basketball coach whether he would choose a body wash that just cleans or one that cleans and moisturizes after having asked him whether decision making is important in his work. Mr. Wright says that decision making is very important then finds himself having to make a decision that is so mindless that it is hardly worth asking.
These days advertisers seem to be having as much trouble finding the right tone and message to appeal to men as they do to women. Women want to be shown to have more going for them in their lives than housework and grocery shopping and likewise, men want to be shown as not only involved but also evolved. The Dove commercial seems like a brand that is used to talking to women and is making an attempt to appeal to men for the first time. The result is that the protagonist comes across as a man that has never given a day's thought to personal hygiene before and is therefore caught unawares by having to choose a body wash with one benefit vs. two.
I am sure that quite a lot of men not only use body wash these days, but also buy it for themselves and have no trouble evaluating the relative benefits of the different brands that are on offer.
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