Dove Confronts 2000s Beauty Ideals to Empower Millennial Women with ‘Why2K?’ Podcast

​Dove and Razorfish have teamed up to launch ‘Why2K?’, a podcast playlist on toxic beauty ideals and their impact on a generation. Unrealistic beauty standards have always been with us – shifting over time. Today, those pressures are more advanced than ever, amplified by filters, feeds, and AI-generated perfection.

But in the early 2000s, they took on a new intensity and shaped how a generation of millennial women saw themselves. A new study from Dove, ‘The Weight of Words’, reveals that 3 in 4 millennial women say harmful beauty messages from the early 2000s still shape how they feel about their bodies today.

The ‘Why2K?’ podcast playlist forms part of Dove’s first-ever body confidence programme for women, empowering millennial women to begin their own journey of beauty on their own terms. In partnership with Spotify, it unpacks 2000s culture and helps women reclaim their body confidence. Dove is collaborating with celebrities like actress Pamela Anderson to reflect on their own experiences.

Each episode includes science-backed exercises and are developed with body image experts and academics to support women in building body confidence. These episodes will air in collaboration with top podcasts ‘How to Fail’, ‘Happy Place’, and ‘A Millennial Mind’, with the first episode airing on ‘How to Fail’.

Razorfish strategically led the project from concept to completion, bringing the podcast to life as a way to fulfill Dove’s long-form content ambitions. The agency created the Y2K hook, identified millennial women as the core audience, and spotlighted the toxic culture that shaped their youth and adulthood. UEG Worldwide led casting and podcast production, while Razorfish developed the podcast episode content, as well as social and video marketing assets.