31 Jan 2024 --- Dove teams up with field hockey coach Kylie Kelce to help keep girls in sports with the #KeepHerConfident campaign.
Unilever’s beauty brand says 45% of girls drop out of sports by age 14 due to low body confidence, so it has enlisted the help of Kelce to support the Body Confident Sport program co-developed by Dove and Nike.
The program is touted as a “first-of-its-kind” and scientifically-proven set of free digital tools for coaches to build body confidence in 11- to 17-year-old girls “so they can keep playing the game they love.”
“As an athlete, field-hockey coach and mother to three young girls, I know firsthand how important it is to build the body confidence of girls in sports,” says Kelce.
“Young female athletes should be able to freely express themselves through the sports they love without the pressure of worrying about what they may look like while they play. Sports have so many amazing benefits, and I’m so excited to partner with Dove on such an important and special issue to me and my family.”
Dove’s NFL Super Bowl ad
Kelce is a high school field hockey coach, wife of NFL football player Jason Kelce and sister-in-law of Travis Kelce, who also plays in the NFL as a tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs and is dating Taylor Swift.
Dove empowers young girls to stay in sports.The partnership announcement comes ahead of the Dove brand’s return to the Super Bowl with a 30-second advertising spot that will air in the first quarter of “football’s biggest night.”
“Heading into football’s biggest night, we are thrilled to be partnering with Kylie Kelce to make sports a place where all girls can thrive and feel like they belong,” says Firdaous El Honsali, global VP at Dove Masterbrand.
“As a coach herself, Kylie understands how detrimental negative body talk can be for girls and how influential coaches can be in building self-esteem on and off the field. We’re honored to have her on our roster as the perfect partner to help build momentum for this issue and keep girls playing the sports they love.”
Promoting body confidence
The Body Confident Sport program aims to reach one million young people annually and is part of Dove’s Self-Esteem Project. The toiletries company asserts its Self-Esteem Project is the “largest self-esteem education provider in the world.”
For two decades, it has offered no-cost, academically validated tools for parents, teachers, mentors and kids. Dove has reached over 100 million young people globally across 150 countries, intending to reach 250 million young lives by 2030.
According to Dove, the online program has interactive training modules focused on body confidence coaching to help inspire athletes to feel more body confident while playing sports. The program allows coaches to recognize and tackle negative body image in their athletes and promotes body confidence in the team.
Similarly, in 2006, Dove aired an ad about boosting self-esteem in young girls.
By Sabine Waldeck
