You are more beautiful than you think

Only 4 percent of women worldwide think they're beautiful, Dove says. The brief for this project, then, was simple: Make women feel better about themselves. Ogilvy Brazil did so in startling fashion, producing the most intriguing social experiment and most viral video of the year. The agency hired FBI forensic artist Gil Zamora to sketch women (sight unseen) as they described themselves, and then as others described them. The differences in the final sketches are stark, and in a way sad, but also uplifting. "You are more beautiful than you think," said the end line—as simple and perfect a brand statement as there could be. The three minutes of footage from the shoot (edited by Paul Kumpata, following an earlier seven-minute version, edited by Philip Owens) would become advertising's high point this year—a clever and poignant exploration of self-esteem that was as beautiful as the subjects it studied.