Vaginas are in the news this week with a campaign from London and now a musical (a sequel, no less) from Gillette featuring Princess Nokia rapping about pubic hair with lyrics like "I'm not ashamed of my pubic hair, I celebrate every hair down there." Because there is apparently a stigma about public hair. Not the hair itself, but the word "pubic."
And this video is a second attempt by Gillette to get us to "say pubic hair," while selling what I assume is a newish line of grooming products.
The most cringe aspect isn't the concept because it's kind of fun, but having to work the brand name Venus into the lyrics. I feel for the creatives here. At least they kept the product shot to the very end although it would have been so much better if they were animated. Again, probably a client conceit here.
I can't speak for the age demographic this is geared towards but I assume teenagers. I wonder if they are more comfortable asking a giant corporation how to trim their pubic hair rather than deal with the "drama," of asking (their) mama.
For the record, I've now type the word "pubic," in this ad more times than I've said it all year so maybe it's working.
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I tend to love anything animated but was not impressed by this at all. There are also two lines in the song that bother me.
First: "Yeah, you could ask your mama, but who wants that kind of trauma?" Now, I understand that the United States is culturally different from where I am from, but in what kind of messed up world do you not ask the woman who birthed you advice on everything that has to do with your body - that is like hers? The fact that a brand happily encourages avoiding seeking advice from mothers plain bothers me. I do not think it's wise to normalize seeking anyone-but-your-mamas-advice on private matters. So I'm side-eying the brand for that alone.
Second line, and this is silly but; "it's my body, and it's self-care". Self-care used to be about health and autonomy and actively making your health better or preserving it. Such as being able to check your insulin levels with smart apps so that you can make better informed eating decisions. Or just being able to give yourself insulin. Or staying active and fit to prevent looming health issues.
So yes, I understand that the word now also includes anything that makes people happy. But rebranding grooming to be synonymous with self-care just sounds pretentious to me.
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PermalinkYou forgot one: "but influencers won't mention me, is the word "pubic" blasphemy?" No, cuz you're not god.
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