Dove

“As Early As Five”

Our WPP network prides itself on providing our clients with the best talent for every need. Swift is known to be one of WPP’s best creative shops. And, as a result, we often tap in to support our partner agencies with their bigger brand initiatives. In this case, Dove (and our partner Ogilvy) came to us to bring a new brand platform to life.

Dove wanted to create a new brand platform that flipped the script on the traditional beauty narratives. They wanted to detoxify beauty. Their brief to us asked, “How can we challenge conventional beauty standards and address issues of self-esteem among young, diverse audiences?” A great internal brief - but it was missing the human truth.

We dug in to understand our audience’s own experience. Our research revealed that 53% of Black mothers, whose daughters have experienced hair discrimination, say their daughters experienced the discrimination as early as 5 years old. Five. That’s the age girls learn what’s real and make-believe, start telling stories using full sentences, and do a somersault for the first time. Because when Black girls leave their homes to start school, they leave a safe space. Outside their families and communities, they’re subjected to the biases and stereotypes held by others—to racist discrimination against the hair they were born with.

This was the human truth that led to “As Early As Five” - a new brand platform and a partnership with The CROWN Act, tangible action in the form of legislation that would make race-based hair discrimination illegal in the US.

We collaborated closely with filmmaker Aisha Ford, a young woman of color who had not yet directed commercials. She pushed the concept, making it highly authentic, bringing depth, and targeting emotion. And together we created the visceral film that launched in 2022.

While sales results are confidential, the impact of this work is undeniable. On March 18, 2022, the federal CROWN Act bill passed in the House of Representatives. We have gathered 450K+ signatures on our petition - and we’re not done yet.