Dove is honing its focus on social media and the impacts it can have on young people in Canada.

The beauty brand, through its Self-Esteem Project, has long targeted the negative mental health effects of social media and related technology and trends – such as image manipulation on selfies. But now, armed with alarming new data that show eight in 10 youth mental health specialists say social media is directly fueling a mental health crisis, the brand has launched a new campaign film and partnered with Canadian organizations to directly address the issue.

The film, called “Cost of Beauty,” features Mary, a young girl whose mental health was harmed by social media. Set to a cover of the song “You Are So Beautiful,” the film details Mary’s growing obsession with body image and size, which culminated in an eating disorder from which she is now recovering – before featuring a host of other young women also in recovery from various mental health issues driven by toxic social media influence.

These stories align with the findings of new Dove research, which shows that 80% of young people believe people their age are addicted to social media, 50% believe it makes them or their peers feel more anxious, 65% have been exposed to content encouraging weight loss or body transformation on social media, 44% have been exposed to content encouraging restricted eating or disordered eating behaviours, and 70% say social media can make people their age want to change their appearance.

“While certain aspects of social media can promote creativity and connection for young people, data has shown toxic content online is harming the mental health of today’s youth. If there isn’t real change, young people will continue to pay with their wellbeing,” says Alessandro Manfredi, chief marketing officer for Dove. “We have a responsibility to act and support a safer environment on social media, helping protect young peoples’ mental health. This means going beyond individual interventions to drive systemic change.”

To help drive that systemic change, Dove is also announcing its support for groups directly addressing the crisis.

The brand has announced new support for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and its Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) network in the development of new, virtual programming to drive early intervention and greater, more inclusive access to care for youth struggling with mental health issues through its secure, web-based platform. The brand is also supporting CAMH’s efforts through five of the YWHO network’s physical locations to improve greater and more timely access to integrated services such as clinical mental health and substance use assessments, care navigation, peer support and 2SLGBTQ+ support groups.

In addition, Dove is partnering with Kids Help Phone to ensure that young people continue to have access to immediate mental health and wellness counselling, crisis support and tools.

The brand is also advocating for government policy that will regulate social media content and make the environment safer for youth, and urging Canadians to sign and send a prewritten letter to their MP to do the same through its campaign microsite.

Edelman handled earned media, PHD handled paid media and Ogilvy handled creative on the campaign.