Subtle Ad for Hair Removal Products Promotes "Mowing the Lawn"
What's most troubling about this commercial? Is it the unoriginal use of cats to represent the female anatomy? The racial stereotypes? The notions that pubic hair is "untidy" and "rough around the edges" and fun to remove? Or the fact that some executive thinks this commercial is a brilliant way to convince us to buy the product?
Wow...I'm not too bright, and even to me those racial stereotypes were rather blaring.
And great, they have the "free your skin" logo at the end. Their idea of freedom (that women, given the choice, will choose the same boundaries imposed on them) has always irritated me.
Posted by: Jessica M. | April 06, 2009 at 05:42 AM
That ad is flat-out moronic.
Posted by: Single Women Rule | April 06, 2009 at 06:44 AM
Ok I saw a less blatant ad for this for the first time last night and was: WTF!!! And thought exactly the same thing.
You stay classy Quattro.
Posted by: Adrienne | April 06, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Fun fact: Dove and Axe are both owned by Unilever.
I think it is more silly than offensive. I'm not made uncomfortable by this advertising. I don't feel like it is saying to shave it all the way away. Just that, if you choose to shave, here is a product made for it. And they are skirting around the actual words in a cute way to make people less uncomfortable (but the execution is very poor). The advert isn't good(in technical terms) but I don't agree that the product should be dismissed along with it.
Posted by: Trillian | April 06, 2009 at 06:14 PM
ugh. I hate these types of commercials. Exactly why are we "supposed" to do this? I am so sick of these silly expectations. And I don't think they're funny, even though I've seen people Twittering about how clever they are because they make fun of women - and are "successful" at it! It's not clever to me. Just irritating.
Posted by: becky | April 07, 2009 at 08:21 AM
Are first I thought this was just a parody of this ad that plays in the U.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAk77Kr_OwQ
but after looking up Wilkinson Sword, which is displayed above the logo at the end I realized this must be a UK version of the ad or something.....just more proof that Americans are just too uptight to take a joke, the Brits are the only one who could get away with an ad like this, and I'm an american. People like the previous posters would make it impossible to run an ad like this here.
Posted by: Mandy | April 07, 2009 at 12:56 PM
I think for me it's not so much that I can't "take the joke"...I mean, it's obvious it's meant to be funny. Unfortunately, I get the feeling if I saw this ad on TV here, I would suspect the message bears more meaning to the advertisers than the joke. I didn't really read the "bush" shapes as a joke on what "we usually think of" concerning those zany racial stereotypes; rather, I read it as a little less intentional of a joke and more as an attempt on "subtle" advertising to the consumer.
But then, maybe that's me not taking a joke for a joke, precisely as Mandy says :) It's difficult for me to know whether to be irritated or amused by the overbearingly housewifey image when I have so little faith in the cleverness of advertisers these days.
Posted by: Jessica M. | April 08, 2009 at 06:21 AM
"my favorite thing to do" - even on a very boring or bad day, I doubt that this would ever be at the top of the list of fun activities.
Posted by: nonlineargirl | April 09, 2009 at 01:47 PM
God, I love these commercials. They are incredibly stupid, but funny. And yeah, only the Brits and Aussies can seem to get away with it.
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Posted by: montclair dermatology | August 05, 2009 at 09:24 PM
I think its pretty funny. Pubic hair removal and "landscaping" is becoming more and more popular so why not make advertisements for it. They have to promote there product somehow.
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