Dove’s Super Bowl Spot Shows It’s Low Body Confidence That Stops Girls from Playing Sports

The new ad, created by Ogilvy and directed by Dark Energy's Lucy Bridger, marks the first time since 2006 that the brand will make an appearance during American football's biggest night, with an important message about boosting self-esteem in young athletes. The spot - broadcasting in the first quarter of the Big Game - provides a new twist on the Broadway classic, 'It's the Hard Knock Life,' illuminating the pervasive issue of low body confidence among young girls, which stops them from playing the sports they love.

"From our research, we know that body confidence is the #1 reason girls are dropping out of sports," said Greg Ross, chief operating officer, Unilever North America Personal Care. "As a champion of self-esteem for girls, Dove is committed to providing tools and resources like Body Confident Sport to help them stay confident in the activities that are important to them. We are thrilled to be back at the Big Game to continue our mission of making sports a place where all girls can thrive and feel like they belong."

Daniel Fisher, global executive creative director at Ogilvy, added, “The emotional trauma young girls can face in a sporting environment, during a time when their body is changing, is sometimes greater than any physical knock they may sustain playing sports. The whacks of a failed landing in gymnastics, nor the hard tackles of soccer are the primary driver in making girls drop out of sports by age 14, it’s low body confidence.

"We decided to bring this issue to life in the Dove spot using the cultural anthem ‘It’s the Hard Knock Life,’ to drive home our message during the Big Game. An anthem for the resilient spirit, the song perfectly captures the struggle girls go through playing sports, while leaving the audience feeling hopeful.

"We knew we couldn’t show up during this occasion and lecture the audience. So instead, we chose to entertain with home footage of the resilience of real girls experiencing hard knocks in sports, before landing the message to #KeepHerConfidnt knowing that 45% of girls are quitting because of a completely different knock - low body confidence.”

Earlier this week, Kylie Kelce announced her partnership with Dove to drive awareness for the Body Confident Sport program - a first-of-its-kind and scientifically-proven set of free tools for coaches co-developed by Dove and Nike to build body confidence in 11-17-year-old girls.

In support of the Body Confident Sport campaign, Dove is also partnering with pro footballer Steve Young and his two daughters Summer & Laila Young, as well as tennis champion & entrepreneur Venus Williams, who will also lend their voices and experiences to inspire confidence in girls. Venus recently teamed up with Dove for the launch of the Body Confident Sport program in October.

Steve and Venus will take the field during the Dove '45 Yard Line' flag football game for change in Las Vegas prior to the Big Game. The two sports champions will guide teams of high school girls through a flag football game while putting lessons from the Body Confident Sport program into practice.

"As a proud father to two girls who are flag football athletes, I can't wait to take the field alongside them to share our passion for the sport," commented Steve. "Coaching has allowed me to see first hand the meaningful impact sports can have on young people. I'm honoured to work alongside Dove to further their mission of empowering girls and making sports a place where all girls feel confident."

"Coaches play such an important role in building the self-belief of young athletes, and I'm grateful for the impact mine have had on me," said Venus. "I'm looking forward to having the opportunity to pay it forward along with Dove at the '45 Yard Line' flag football game to help boost self-confidence in young girls and help reduce the 45% of girls who drop out because every body is worthy of greatness."

The Body Confident Sport programme aims to reach one million young people annually, and is one of many resources from the Dove Self-Esteem Project. The Dove Self-Esteem Project is the largest self-esteem education provider in the world, offering no-cost, academically validated tools to parents, teachers, mentors and kids for two decades. To date, Dove has reached more than 100 million young people globally across 150 countries, with a goal of reaching 250M young lives by 2030.

Check out our Collection of every Super Bowl 2024 ad so far here.