Kids today are facing a global self-esteem crisis. Over 50% of kids suffer from low self-esteem, which frequently leads to a variety of problems that include withdrawal from social activities, failing academic performance, and eating disorders. In severe cases, it is a matter of life and death.

The Dove Self-Esteem Project is an educational project that launched in 2004 to raise awareness of these issues and help young people build body confidence to ensure that the next generation grows up enjoying a positive relationship with the way they look. The objective of the song was to create an anthem for body confidence that would complement and promote the Dove Self-Esteem Project and play a key part in starting a global movement.

Steven Universe creator, Rebecca Sugar, wrote and directed the all-original music video, “We Deserve to Shine” that serves as the anthem for the DSEP and this ground-breaking Dove x Cartoon Network partnership. “We Deserve to Shine” is a celebration of body confidence and positivity, emulating the same messages of acceptance and strength displayed in each of the Crystal Gems.

The voice actors from the show participated in the song, portraying their respective Gem characters, and each lyric connects to who they are and who you might be: you could relate to any or all of them. The song is meant to reach out to those feeling inadequate due to low body confidence or that they are invisible and encourage visibility. Like the Gems, you deserve to express your true self.

The strategy was to turbo-charge the awareness of the DSEP through music. SU was selected because of its relevance and core values of inclusion, diversity, and purpose while bringing its cultural themes to its global, multi-generational fans.

Rebecca Sugar designed the song “We Deserve to Shine” to convey that young people deserve to love their bodies and a world that supports them. The “we” of “We Deserve to Shine” was chosen to remind them that they aren’t alone. Rebecca wanted listeners to feel the support of the Crystal Gems. By showing the "first take" of the song's performance, the audience would enjoy the mistakes and awkward moments from the characters and feel encouraged to accept their own imperfect moments on the path to a healthier sense of self.

“This song actually gave me more confidence and motivation to love my body and know that I’m beautiful.” - AmyAnimeLover

The music video was created over a 4-month period and launched to align with San Diego Comic Con, a pop-culture mecca that draws fans from around the world. The music video was published on YouTube, Cartoon Network and Dove’s social and digital platforms.

The music video played a key role in transforming Dove's content from 'classroom education’ to fresh, engaging content our target audience would actively seek out. This dramatically increased the number of young people reached, as well as awareness and participation levels.

The music video has exceeded goals and expectations: it is successful not only on the basis of marketing metrics (99% positive sentiment across YouTube and Twitter, over 23MM+ organic impressions across social platforms, 4MM+ organic views across social platforms), but also in positively impacting the lives of young people. The partnership has reached 12.8MM young people in less than a year. In qualitative testing, the cartoons showed a high message recall & like-ability (children 8-11 years old) and parents praised the initiative. Spillover awareness was raised to over 6.4MM adults.