When Tush Comes to Dove: Real women. Real curves. Really smart ad campaign

The spot: In print ads and on billboards, various "real women"—stripped down to their plain white undies—gleefully show us their "real curves."

This campaign for Dove's new line of firming products (lotions and creams and such) is everywhere you look. The ads made their debut in last month's fashion magazines and they now grace every outdoor surface in sight. Buses, bus stops, billboards, buildings—I can't walk three blocks in my D.C. neighborhood without encountering another of these Brobdingnagian babes.

There's no doubt that the ads are striking. This is, of course, entirely a function of the casting choices. If the wardrobe, lighting, and graphic design remained the same but these ads featured gorgeous, size-0 models, no one would give this campaign a moment's thought.--