April 16, 2014 | Bruce Philip

Following “Beauty Sketches” was a tough job. Dove fumbled it

Bruce Philp is a brand strategy consultant and author of Consumer Republic, winner of the 2012 National Business Book Award

About a thousand years ago, a television commercial for P&G’s Olay brand emerged out of Australia that worked so well it would end up being run—accents and all—in much of the Olay world. Internally, it was called “Top Gun,” for the broad reference it made to the sexual tension between Maverick and his female flight instructor in the film. In the Olay spot, a swaggering young military pilot hits on his female instructor, only to discover to his astonishment that she is a former teacher of his, and so, we are to surmise, quite a bit older than she looks. Snap.

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