Yesterday, Greenpeace has released a video titled “Toxic Influence: The Dark Side of Dove,” which highlights the devastating impact of plastic waste in Asian countries, particularly in communities in the Philippines and Indonesia. The video is a sharp subversion of a Dove advert from 2022, which had been part of the brand’s Self-Esteem Project, aimed at promoting positive body image. Greenpeace contends that Dove’s positive marketing efforts overshadow the environmental harm caused by its plastic packaging.
According to a 2023 Greenpeace report, Unilever sells an estimated 1,700 plastic sachets per second, with Dove alone responsible for producing around 6.4 billion sachets in 2022. Many of these sachets end up polluting beaches and waterways across Asia. Greenpeace campaigner Anna Diski criticized Dove’s practices, accusing the brand of hypocrisy for promoting self-esteem while contributing to environmental degradation. She urged Dove to stop selling plastic sachets and commit to eliminating single-use plastic within the next decade.
Unilever responded to the campaign by acknowledging the ongoing challenge of reducing plastic waste but emphasized its commitment to developing scalable solutions with industry partners. A company spokesperson highlighted plastic as one of its four sustainability priorities and reiterated the need for a UN treaty on plastic pollution to drive systemic change.
The campaign follows a Greenpeace protest on September 5, 2024, when activists shut down the entrances to Unilever’s headquarters in London. The protesters, who locked themselves to barricades shaped like Dove products, unfurled a banner with the message “Real Beauty isn’t this toxic.” This is not the first time Unilever has faced criticism from Greenpeace, with the environmental group previously condemning the company for its projected sale of 53 billion single-use plastic sachets in 2023.
