Unilever, the master brand for Dove soap, wants more people to buy their products. Now, the UK-based company has announced that they will be changing their Dove packaging claims to remove the word “normal” as it could be misconstrued as excluding some people. This change, which is the latest in the “woke” campaign to make marketing language more inclusive for all customers, was met with pushback from social media users who were outraged that Unilever found the word “normal” to be offensive.
Unilever is a large brand that includes smaller brands like Dove, Lifebuoy, Vaseline, and Sunsilk in its portfolio. The company’s decision to ditch the word “normal” for Dove products came after they received the results of a 10,000 person study. The study found that the majority of respondents – fifty-six percent – felt excluded by the beauty and personal care industry. Younger customers – ages eighteen to thirty-five – were turned off by the word at a rate of 80 percent. In response, Unilever ordered Dove to remove the word “normal” from their packaging.
For years, Unilever has used the word “normal” to describe hair texture and skin type. However, the word only applies to customers who are white. By March of next year, the company hopes to replace the word “normal” with more descriptive terms like “grey hair” for their lines of shampoos and “moisture replenish” for their skin creams.
While many social media users have praised the company’s effort to include more people, critics abound and are not shy about voicing their opinions on the change.Now @Unilever has gone woke. You won’t be able to buy shampoo for ‘normal’ hair anymore. Apparently, it’s offensive. Wouldn’t it be great if these companies reflected the views of n ormal people who haven’t been conned by this PC wokeness? Time to avoid @Dove @Sunsilk,” wrote one critic.