Dove’s latest campaign uses deepfakes of moms to warn about the effects social media has on teen girls. YPulse found that social media is having a serious impact on the way young females see themselves, and according to research from Dove’s Self-Esteem Project, two out of three American girls are spending more than an hour each day on social media, while half of them say idealized beauty content on social media gives them low self-esteem. To get the point across, the Unilever-owned brand produced and released Toxic Influence, a short film showing moms and their teen daughters talking about their child’s social media habits. In it, the pairs are shown a deepfake of the moms giving “awful health and beauty advice”—like advocating lip fillers and harmful diet behaviors—to show how dangerous social media can be when misinformation is spread. The movie is part of Dove’s #DetoxYourFeed campaign, which also features educational videos, a “Confidence Kit” with a workbook for parents, caregivers, and mentors on how to talk with their kids about navigating misinformation on social media, and a partnership with Gabrielle Union and Zaya Wade, both of who will be hosting a livestream event to give parents the tools to fight toxic influence on teens’ social feeds. (Fast Company)
