Beauty brands have been criticized a lot for stereotyping the men and women they cast in their ads. The unrealistic standards of beauty determined by these brands have been termed as an ancient and unacceptable approach. In fact, there have been many campaigns to take more diverse models for their ads in recent times.

It seems that one such brand has taken it upon itself to encourage other companies to bring the change together.

Recently, the Unilever-owned brand, Dove, has written an open letter inviting its rivals to use its real beauty models from Project ‘ShowUs-Its On Us’ for free. With this initiative, Dove is offering to pay its models to appear in advertisements for other brands. The motive behind this is simple, to encourage more inclusive marketing.

So, how does it work? During the international casting call, the models will need to carry a simple message with them that reads ‘if you choose me and show me as I really am, Dove will cover the cost of my appearance fee’.

Sophie van Ettinger, Global Vice President, explains, “For over 60 years, Dove has been taking action to represent real beauty – working to shatter stereotypes. We know from research that if women don’t feel represented, it can hold them back from reaching their full potential.

“By giving brands and companies the tools to show a more diverse representation of beauty, we are helping to change the way women are represented, which is proven to have a positive impact on how confident women feel in their appearance.”

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As per Dove, other Unilever-owned brands like Magnum Ice Creams and Cif have joined in with the brand and agreed to be a part of the campaign. Other brands like Krispy Kreme donuts and Nedbank are also joining in.