IS THIS JUST INDUSTRY NAVEL-GAZING?

While Dove’s breastfeeding ad has faced a barrage of criticism from the marketing world, research carried out for Campaign by Toluna suggests that the public isn’t quite on the same page. The research platform polled 1,000 UK adults and found:

• Only 37% had heard of the controversy

surrounding the ad;

• Just 12% thought the ad was offensive;

• 87% were no less likely to buy Dove after seeing the ad;

• 74% thought the brand had a right to talk about how mothers feed their babies.

But there was one result the likes of Dove, Heineken and Pepsi should take note of: 49% of respondents said they were bored

by brands asking them to “join the debate”.