Image via My Black is Beautiful

P&G (of Olay and Cover Girl fame, among others) is waging a holy war with Unilever and Dove on advertising to traditionally underserved (yet highly lucrative in sales potential) slices of the population. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty got kudos galore for featuring women that did not resemble Kate Moss during her heroin chic days, although, full disclosure, those ladies were not actually "real" girls, but plus-size models. Not that I'm dissing, but I just wanted to make sure that was on the table is all. Anyway, here's the word from P&G on their new My Black is Beautiful campaign:

"Procter & Gamble's commitment to celebrating and connecting with African-American women is stronger today than ever before. That commitment has spanned more than a century and continues to grow. It's rooted in the vision and actions of our leadership and the interest of our consumers and employees.

Our extraordinary new initiative, My Black is Beautiful celebrates the diverse collective beauty of African American women and encourages black women to define and promote their own beauty standard--one that is an authentic reflection of their indomitable spirit.

Recognizing that beauty and self-confidence are intrinsically linked, My Black is Beautiful is designed to ignite and support a sustained national conversation by, for and about black women; the way they are reflected in popular culture and serve as the catalyst for a movement that affects positive change."

I have to say, there is an embarrassingly huge lack of black women/models featured in most skin care advertising, so anything that will combat that seems like a good thing. What do you think? Empowering initiative, or just another marketing strategy?