Early into the pandemic, Dove set out to celebrate the bravery of front-line healthcare workers. However, photographers were not permitted into the impacted hospitals.

This constraint led to a powerful solution: to use the “selfie” photographs that front-healthcare workers were sharing on their personal social media accounts. Their images conveyed the physical and mental toll of the pandemic with raw, unretouched authenticity, capturing their selfless care after a long shift.

Searching hashtags on various social platforms, we found real healthcare workers’ personal images and then DM’d them to invite them to participate. We then juxtaposed the images of their battle-worn faces with our message.

Running in 15 countries, with each nation featuring local healthcare workers, Dove evolved the definition of their long-standing “Campaign for Real Beauty”, showing that beauty isn’t how you look, but what you do.

The campaign imagery not only featured heroes, it was photographed by heroes.

Courage is beautiful