Photo source: Marketing Dive
In its new campaign, Dove has chosen to place real, unedited user comments from the platform Reddit at the centre of communication instead of traditional brand messaging, focusing on its Intensive Repair 10-in-1 Serum Mask product.
The campaign titled “Dove r/eal reviews” is based on the first 50 Reddit reviews of the product, regardless of whether they are positive or negative. The comments were published without modification, with permission from the authors, while user identities remained anonymous.
For the brand owned by Unilever, this move represents a logical continuation of its long-standing authenticity strategy. Rather than controlling the narrative, Dove is giving space to the community and accepting the risks of open dialogue.
The campaign runs across film, out-of-home, streaming, digital and social channels, while in certain placements reviews are displayed in real time, further emphasising transparency and two-way communication.
The campaign was also launched through a physical activation in New York. On February 5 and 6, a pop-up space at Flatiron Plaza featured real Reddit posts, free products and additional activities for visitors.
Reddit as an aesthetic and strategic framework
Dove did not use Reddit only as a content source. The visual and conceptual identity of the campaign fully references the platform’s logic – from the name “r/eal reviews,” which plays on the subreddit format (r/), to the use of avatars inspired by the Snoo mascot, further protecting user anonymity.
This approach comes at a time when Reddit is seeing growth in beauty content, with views in this category increasing 30% year over year. The platform now hosts more than 100,000 communities and 116 million active users and is increasingly perceived as a place for honest recommendations and product discovery.
Between credibility and control
In recent years, Reddit has become increasingly interesting to advertisers, partly due to strong revenue growth – the platform closed 2025 with $2.2 billion in revenue, representing a 69% increase compared with the previous year. At the same time, brands are aware of the risks: the platform’s open structure means less control over the narrative, and the community can react quickly to promotional activity.
For this reason, Dove chose a model in which it uses Reddit content within its own media channels rather than running the campaign primarily on the platform itself. This allows the brand to retain the credibility associated with the Reddit community while avoiding potential brand-safety issues and unpredictable reactions.
In a broader business context, Unilever recorded a 4.1% increase in underlying sales in its personal care segment in the third quarter of 2025, with Dove in North America identified as one of the key drivers of that growth.
The “r/eal reviews” campaign is therefore not just a creative experiment in transparency but also a strategic move that combines community credibility, a long-term brand platform and clear business objectives. At a time when audiences increasingly distrust perfectly polished messaging, letting consumers speak may be the strongest message of all.
