Encouraging women to buy their own chocolate looks to have paid off for DOVE. In the weeks surrounding Valentine’s Day 2019, the overall chocolate category remained flat

(– 0.1%), while total DOVE sales grew 4.6%. Specifically, this was driven by an 8.9% increase in sales of DOVE Valentine’s Day themed products versus 2018.

This film shows what happens when a woman bucks tradition on Valentine’s Day. We open on a woman buying her own chocolate, unaware that this simple act of independence may have greater consequences. A narrator states that this woman isn’t just taking a stand for herself, but for others as well. Specifically, the poor teddy bears who are too often imprisoned by Valentine’s Day traditions. And so, this woman buying her own chocolate frees herself from convention, and in turn, frees a teddy bear to follow its heart. This particular teddy bear longs to live a quiet life, finding beauty in the natural world as a painter.