• by Fern Siegel , February 5, 2024

Dove is returning to the Super Bowl after an 18-year hiatus, focused on young female athletes. Some 45% of girls quit sports by age 14. It's not due to soccer tackles or gym falls, the culprit is low body confidence.

The brand's 30-second spot, scored to the song "It's the Hard Knock Life" from Annie, will appear in the first quarter. It understands that athletics are a struggle, but Dove wants girls to retain a strong spirit.

Daniel Fisher, global executive creative director at Ogilvy, said: "We knew we couldn’t show up during this occasion and lecture the audience. So instead, we chose to entertain with home footage of the resilience of real girls experiencing hard knocks in sports, before landing the message to #KeepHerConfident."

In addition, Kylie Kelce, the wife of Jason Kelce, a center for the Philadelphia Eagles, has partnered with Dove to drive awareness for the Body Confident Sport program — a set of free tools for coaches co-developed by Dove and Nike to build body confidence in 11-17-year-old girls.

In support of the Body Confident Sport campaign, Dove also teamed with former pro quarterback Steve Young and his two daughters Summer and Laila Young, as well as tennis superstar Venus Williams.

Greg Ross, COO, Unilever North America Personal Care, Dove's parent company, said: "As a champion of self-esteem for girls, Dove is committed to providing tools and resources like Body Confident Sport to help them stay confident in the activities that are important to them."