In order to tackle with this situation, Dove launched a project to re-take student ID photos at Hiroo Gakuen, a central Tokyo high school. Before the photo session, a surprise was prepared in which each student watched a video with comments from her classmates. Made newly aware of their own attractive features, the students took part in the photo session with feelings of confidence. Their expressions were vibrant, and the new student ID cards revealed their charm and personality. (Student IDs produced during this project were actually used by the students until graduation day.)

The most significant creative device is the documentary nature of the film. Because we wanted our message to resonate with young women in Japan, we completed the film without any creative artifice. The reactions and comments of the students were all unrehearsed, making it a pure documentary. We made careful preparations with teachers and administrators at Hiroo Gakuen and our film shoot was completed over the course of seven days. The student interviews were conducted one-on-one, and the resulting segments were edited for each student. We prepared our “surprises” for the ID photo shoot and filmed the students’ live reactions. Beginning with the initial proposal to our client, it took more than one year to complete the film, which serves as a real documentary of today’s teenaged Japanese girls.

Released at the end of February 2018, a YouTube video introducing the project earned 3.5 million views within the first month. Large numbers of positive comments posted on Twitter and other SNS and the project received coverage in other media.