Who Owns Dove?

• Parent Company: Unilever plc
• Ownership Type: Brand division
• Company Type: Publicly Traded
• Stock Ticker: LSE: ULVR

• Founded: 1957
• Founders: Unilever (internal development)

• Founded: 1929
• Headquarters: London, England, United Kingdom
• Company Type: Publicly Traded
• Stock: LSE: ULVR
• Revenue: approximately €59.7 billion (FY2025)
• Employees: Approximately 128,000

Visit Unilever plc website

• Headquarters: London, United Kingdom
• Manufacturing / Operations: United States, Brazil, Germany, India, China

Dove operates within Unilever's comprehensive sustainability framework, focusing on carbon reduction, renewable energy, plastic waste reduction, and responsible sourcing while maintaining its commitment to real beauty and social impact. As Unilever's flagship beauty brand, Dove contributes to and benefits from the company's global environmental commitments while championing inclusive beauty standards.

Climate Change Mission: Dove is committed to playing its part in the global movement to create a low-carbon economy, with Unilever setting a science-based target to halve the greenhouse gas impacts of products across their lifecycle by 2030. Dove aims to become carbon positive by 2030 through increased use of renewable energy in manufacturing and comprehensive carbon footprint reduction strategies.

Renewable Energy Manufacturing: Dove's Beauty Bars are manufactured with environmental care, with USA and Germany sites already using 100% renewable energy through wind and solar sources. The Indonesian site is switching to sustainable biomass, demonstrating Dove's commitment to powering manufacturing processes with only renewable energy sources across global production facilities.

Sustainable Factory Design: Dove's Aguai factory in Brazil, which produces deodorants, exemplifies sustainable manufacturing with natural light maximization, renewable energy power, zero non-hazardous waste to landfill, and rainwater collection systems that meet 60% of the factory's water needs. This innovative design represents Dove's responsibility as a sustainable development company.

Green Transportation: As part of Unilever, Dove is committed to using green shipping methods, including innovative technology, lower-emission fuels, and switching from road to rail transport. The company uses an innovative app to match transport needs with trucking companies that have spare capacity, effectively implementing 'ride sharing' for logistics that benefits nearly half of managed lorries in Europe.

Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Transition: Dove is switching to liquid nitrogen gas (LNG) as a lower-emission fuel for transportation, significantly reducing carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions compared to traditional diesel fuels. The company is building five new LNG stations to support more environmentally friendly trucks, including one near the Dove factory in Mannheim, Germany.

Plastic Waste Reduction: Dove is working towards solutions that reduce packaging waste, particularly plastic waste. The brand is committed to producing less waste and developing innovative approaches to plastic packaging, including increased use of recycled materials and improved recycling programs for consumers.

Responsible Sourcing: Dove cares about the planet and people, committing to responsible sourcing of ingredients including naturally-derived components in fragrances. The brand works with suppliers who share Dove's commitment to environmental and social responsibility throughout the supply chain.

Environmental Research Partnership: For over 25 years, Dove has worked with Unilever's Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC), where 170 world-class scientists collaborate with Research and Development teams to ensure product safety and environmental sustainability. This partnership helps protect the planet through renewable energy sources, reduced water use, and zero non-hazardous waste to landfills.

Lifecycle Environmental Impact: Dove is dedicated to halving the environmental footprint of products across the entire supply chain, from ingredient sourcing to product use and disposal. This lifecycle approach informs every aspect of Dove's operations and product development, demonstrating comprehensive environmental protection commitment.

Reforestation Initiatives: In partnership with the Rimba Collective, Dove is helping protect and restore 123,000 acres of rainforest in Southeast Asia over five years, contributing to biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration efforts that align with the brand's environmental mission.

These sustainability initiatives demonstrate Dove's commitment to environmental responsibility while maintaining the real beauty mission that has defined the brand for decades. The integration of sustainability practices across all operations shows how beauty brands can lead in environmental stewardship.

Dove has received significant recognition for its groundbreaking Campaign for Real Beauty, marketing innovation, and social impact initiatives, earning accolades from prestigious advertising and marketing organizations worldwide. The brand's commitment to authentic beauty representation has consistently earned top honors in competitive industry award programs.

- Cannes Lions Media Grand Prix 2025: Dove's AI-era Real Beauty campaign won the top media prize at the 2025 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, marking the 20th anniversary of the Real Beauty campaign. This prestigious award recognizes Dove's innovative approach to addressing new threats to authentic representation in the age of artificial intelligence and digital manipulation.

- Creative Strategy Grand Prix: Dove and Ogilvy's decades-long Real Beauty campaign won the Grand Prix in Creative Strategy for Long-Term Brand Platform at the Cannes Lions. This award acknowledges the sustained impact and strategic brilliance of Dove's commitment to real beauty over two decades, establishing it as a benchmark for purpose-driven marketing.

- 20th Anniversary Real Beauty Recognition: Dove celebrated 20 years of its Campaign for Real Beauty with renewed commitments to never using AI to create or distort women's images. The anniversary campaign received widespread recognition for addressing contemporary challenges to authentic representation while maintaining the brand's core values.

- Keep Beauty Real Campaign: Dove's renewed vow to champion real beauty with a commitment to never using AI to create or distort women's images received industry recognition for addressing the emerging threat of artificial intelligence to authentic beauty representation in digital media.

- Real Beauty Pledge Recognition: Dove's Real Beauty Pledge, which promises to always feature real women, never digitally distort images, and help young people build body confidence, has been acknowledged by marketing organizations as a pioneering commitment to authenticity in beauty advertising.

- Social Impact Awards: Dove's self-esteem initiatives and programs to help young people build body confidence have received recognition from social impact organizations and educational institutions for their positive influence on youth mental health and wellbeing.

- Marketing Innovation Awards: Dove's innovative approaches to beauty marketing, including the recent campaign spotlighting real Reddit comments about the brand, have been recognized for their authenticity and consumer engagement strategies that break traditional advertising conventions.

- Brand Leadership Recognition: Dove consistently ranks among the world's most valuable beauty brands, with recognition for its ability to maintain market leadership while championing social causes and maintaining authentic brand positioning in the competitive beauty industry.

These awards and recognitions underscore Dove's position as a leader in purpose-driven marketing and authentic beauty representation. The brand's consistent recognition across different categories validates its strategy of combining commercial success with social impact and environmental responsibility.

Dove has faced significant controversies related to racial insensitivity in advertising, accusations of hypocrisy, and criticism of its real beauty campaign approach. These incidents have tested Dove's reputation for inclusive beauty representation while highlighting broader challenges in the beauty industry regarding diversity and authentic representation.

Racially Insensitive Advertisement (2017): Dove faced intense backlash after releasing an advertisement that showed a black woman removing her brown shirt to reveal a white woman underneath, followed by the white woman revealing another woman of color. The ad was widely criticized as racist for perpetuating harmful stereotypes about skin color and cleanliness. Dove immediately apologized and pulled the advertisement, expressing regret that the ad had 'missed the mark' in representing women of color.

Racist History Criticism: La Trobe University and other academic institutions criticized Dove for buying into racist history by depicting white skin as clean and black skin as something to be cleansed. This criticism highlighted deeper issues in beauty advertising traditions and the historical context of racial bias in beauty standards that Dove's real beauty campaign sought to challenge.

Woman in Controversial Ad Response: Lola Ogunyemi, the woman featured in the controversial 2017 ad, publicly stated that she was not a victim and had willingly participated in the campaign. However, the incident sparked widespread debate about representation, consent, and the responsibilities of beauty brands in ensuring diverse and respectful advertising practices.

Hypocrisy Accusations: Critics have accused Dove of hypocrisy, noting that while the brand champions real beauty and diversity, it continues to operate within the conventional beauty industry that often promotes unrealistic beauty standards. These accusations challenge the authenticity of Dove's real beauty mission and its commitment to genuine change in beauty industry practices.

Environmental Impact Concerns: Some critics have raised concerns about Dove's environmental impact, particularly regarding plastic waste from packaging and the environmental footprint of manufacturing processes. While Dove has implemented sustainability initiatives, these concerns highlight ongoing challenges in balancing environmental responsibility with product accessibility and affordability.

Real Beauty Campaign Critique: Academic and media analyses have examined both positive and negative aspects of Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty, with some critics arguing that while the campaign moved away from airbrushed perfection, it still operated within conventional beauty industry frameworks that could limit its transformative impact.

Social Media Backlash: Dove has faced social media backlash for various campaigns and initiatives, with consumers sometimes questioning the authenticity of the brand's real beauty commitment and calling for more substantive changes in beauty industry practices rather than just advertising representation.

Marketing Blunder Analysis: Marketing analysts have examined Dove's 2017 advertising controversy as a case study in the challenges of inclusive marketing, highlighting lessons about cultural sensitivity, diverse representation in creative teams, and the risks of oversimplifying complex social issues in commercial advertising.

Consumer Trust Challenges: The controversies have created challenges for Dove in maintaining consumer trust, particularly among communities of color who may feel the brand has not adequately addressed historical injustices in beauty representation and marketing practices.

These controversies highlight the complex challenges Dove faces in championing real beauty while operating within conventional beauty industry structures. The brand's ability to learn from these incidents and improve its practices will be crucial for maintaining its leadership position in purpose-driven beauty marketing.