In a bid to dispel the myth of a picture-perfect body, Dove launched its Campaign for Real Beauty, a global effort intended to serve as a starting point for societal change and act as a means for widening the definition and discussion of beauty.

"We believe that beauty has become too narrow in definition," Philippe Harousseau, Dove's marketing director, said. "We want to challenge that definition and defy the stereotype that only the young, blonde and tall are beautiful."

Dove says it is working towards a more realistic concept of what beauty is - the everyday beauty - the beauty untouched.

With this in mind, Dove Malta got together a group of "everyday looking" girls who are happy and are comfortable with the way they look. The girls involved in the campaign are all Maltese and include two teachers, a student and a manager, who support the message "be happy with who you are" and are now the brand ambassadors for the Campaign for Real Beauty.

The campaign is featuring in a variety of magazines and on bus shelter posters spread across the island.

The principal idea behind the campaign is to encourage women to be confident about their body image and feel comfortable with themselves irrespective of their shape, size or form.

A study for The Real Truth About Beauty, which Dove commissioned, showed that the term "beauty" is not only a word which women are very unlikely to choose to describe their looks but it is also one which many feel uncomfortable using to describe themselves.

Based on the idea that all women around the world would like to see a change in the way beauty is represented, Dove launched the Dove Self-Esteem Fund intended to educate and inspire girls and women on a more realistic definition of what beauty really is because every girl and every women deserves to feel good about herself.

http://www.dove.us