When will the rest of the world get a cool genital jingle?

When I was a teen, I stumbled upon an old book about sex education in Sweden in a used book store. To be honest, I probably bought it for the boobies. But I was also impressed by what I saw as an attempt to give kids and teens positive messages about their bodies, their physical autonomy, and their right to choose what was right for them.

I was reminded of this when the "Snoppen och snippan" video appeared in my newsfeeds.



Catchy, isn't it? With dancing penises and vulvas.

According to Metro, as made for Swedish children’s programme Bacillakuten, using childish words for the organs, ‘snipp’ and ‘snopp’

Some of the lyrics translate as: ‘Here comes the penis at full pace’, and: ‘the vagina is cool, you better believe it, even on an old lady. It just sits there so elegantly’. (They reportedly sound much less weird in Swedish).

I don't think it's weird, and I'm not even Swedish.

The admin of the DosFamily Facebook community explains further:

This is the trailer song from a children's Tv show currently showing in Sweden at the moment. The show is about the body and things that happens with it. Different doctors explains about what happens when you get ill or how do the food system works or colds or what happen when you break a leg... Every episode get an own song for the things they talk about and apparently soon it will be about Snoppen & snippan.

You can see the original post and discussion (in Swedish) at the SVT Barnkanalen page.

Now I just wish they had something like this for English-speaking kids.

(Thanks to Bé for sharing additional info)

This ad for "feminine wash" gets attention, but not the good kind

Via Ads Of The World

From Indonesia. The English translation provided is "Hygiene on the go." (Google gives a literal translation of "wherever hygienic.")

I don't really know what to say, except that Betadine (povidone-iodine) is an antiseptic douche used for serious vaginal bacterial infections, and probably isn't something women want to be using for regular "hygiene".

Bad message, creepy execution.

"Vaginal" advertising doesn't get much sleazier than this

More than 20 years ago, before I got my first agency job, I recall having a decidedly non-sober discussion with my friends about sex in advertising: "If things keep getting more explicit," I joked, "some day you'll see an ad that just shows a beer coming out of a great big [crude euphemism for a vulva]."

Guess what? It's (sort of) finally happened:

Okay, it's a bar logo rather than an actual beer. But it's just as wrong.

This new low is brought to you by an Australian bar called Mordialloc Supper Club. The obvious plan to get free exposure through bad PR worked without even having to buy any media, as the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation used its licencing authority to ban the image from Mordialloc's web site and Facebook page.

The VCGLR's ruling states, "the promotion is not in the public interest as it objectifies the female body and the commission considers it is likely to offend the ordinary reasonable person" and threatened the bar with a $17,323.20 fine if it didn't remove the image from its digital assets. (It's still archived on their blog, however.)

Yeah, I know. I'm compounding the problem. But I'd rather call out what I see as the worst offences of my industry than just let them fester. This one isn't just conceptually and executionally lazy, it's also pretty offensive to women and the whole idea of childbirth.

Man almost emasculated by vagina soap

The Big Lebowski: What makes a man, Mr. Lebowski? [...] Is it being prepared to do the right thing, whatever the cost? Isn't that what makes a man?  

The Dude: Hmmm... Sure, that and a pair of testicles. 

The insecurity of the straight man is a helluva thing:



While it's clear that this ad is "making fun of all that," it's a humour that reveals some serious issues with the way we straight guys view our gender identity.

The ad is aimed at women, clearly, and gleefully takes the piss out of the stereotyped husband who is deathly afraid of being tainted with anything feminine. Considering how many times Summer's Eve has insulted women in their ads, I suspect this is a deliberate attempt to curry favour by evening the score.

While stereotypes are by nature exaggerated, I can tell you that this fear of feminization is a real thing that is programmed in boys early, and which is difficult to eradicate. I'm not sure if it's more misogyny or homophobia that drives it. In general terms, I suspect the latter.

However, this ad, with its coy reference to the "V," is definitely assuming that a man who pretty much lives to get into the vagina is also terrified of it. The idea that masculinity is so fragile must look completely bizarre to women. But I imagine to some it is also deeply offensive.

Fortunately, things can change. When I was getting my then-8-year-old son ready for school one rainy day last year, he grabbed a flowery umbrella of his mom's. I told him, "Don't take that, it's a girl's umbrella." He responded, flatly, "Dad, that's sexist." And I had to agree with him and apologize.

This ad is not helping, though. It may mock men for being so insecure about their manliness, but the "doofus husband" stereotype also creates a culture of acceptance of these loutish traits by women. "Boys will be boys" thinking may seem harmless, but it allows gender stereotypes to flourish. Women really deserve better.

Thanks to Adland and Adfreak for the tip.

Vajamas #FdAdFriday

"So Soft, We Couldn’t Name Them Anything Else," says novelty company Betabrand:

Why are Vajamas so soft? Because they're made with 100% Vagisoft. And just how soft is Vagisoft? Let us explain: 

Once upon a time, the world of tactile technology was satisfied with “soft as a baby’s bottom” as the measure of absolute softness. Anyone who dared name something “softer than” the aforementioned infant’s posterior was suggesting a theoretical world of soft that existed beyond anything man could conceive. 

Then Betabrand researchers invented the Tactile Soft-O-Meter®, a device that can detect and compare the density of softrons, the subatomic units of softness. Using this newfound knowledge, they were able to create pants so ineffably comfy, test subjects had to be removed from them with the Jaws of Life!

I'm not sure if the designer is tragically oversexed, or has severe mommy issues. It's difficult to tell.

This user comment, however, rules:

The vagisoft pockets of my Reversible Disco Jacket are so alluring that I often find myself sharing them with multiple partners, two or three at a time. Given the hugely increased volume of these pants, I'm excited by the possibility of introducing a whole gang of friends to the warmth and comfort of vagisoft!

These Open vagina ads crack me up

Oh, sorry if you came expecting something different. I meant to say "these vaginal moisturizer ads by Toronto creative shop Open are actually funny. And while many products have exploited the v-word in this Year of The Vagina, these ones are actually kind of appropriate.

Check out this one:

And...

As Adfreak's Rebecca Cullers explains, this is a very different campaign than all those horrible douche, whitening and tightening ones, because the product is actually useful:

...there will be no feminist outcry here. The product is well positioned, the copy is sassy and targeted at older women who are quite familiar with the suggestion that age has rendered them sexually inadequate. In fact, I'd say Damiva has a perpetual market so long as it's easier to buy a pill than to explain to your "honey" what constitutes adequate foreplay. But before all the pre-menopausal women in the house go hog wild trying to relive the carefree, lubricated days of their youth, know that Mae by Damiva is not compatible with latex condoms.

I'd love to know if this was the work of a female creative team. Anyone?

Original tip via Adrants 

"My Vagina, My Rules" poster is too cool for school

This may be The Year of the Vagina throughout much of the United States, but not at Brooklyn Technical High School.

Animal New York reports that the poster (above), advertising the school’s Progressive Student Awareness club, was swiftly banned after being posted around campus.

Student Brianna Payne was shocked by the censorship, since she had had the posters pre-approved by her teacher, Joseph Kaelin. “He told me that the principal and a couple of the assistant principals saw the posters and they were like, ‘We don’t like them. They’re inappropriate,’” Payne told Animal NY's Andy Cush. “He told me that he agreed with us, and he thought what we were doing was correct, but he couldn’t do anything about it.”

Laura Marquez, Brooklyn Tech's Assistant Principal of Parent and Student Engagement, claims the poster was sensationalist and lacking in useful information. “The poster was passed around to a room of about a dozen administrators, and no person said, ‘Well, you know, lets give them a shot,’" she explained. "Everybody was shaking their heads, or various degrees of annoyed and offended.”

Because "vagina" is a dirty, dirty word. Especially in the context of sexual rights. I can't believe we trust teenage girls to go running around with those things between their legs. Won't someone PLEASE think about the children?

2012 will be remembered as the Year of The Vagina

Via Strong Intelligent Women Choosing Equality & Freedom Instead Of Religion

Vagina, vagina, vagina. Rhymes with "Regina". Comes from the Latin word for "sheath". And it has become the defining word of the partisan split over women's health rights in the United States.

The word, both naughty and deeply personal, has been enjoying a renaissance of late, as advertisers have used it as the final frontier of sexuality in advertising. But surprisingly, it isn't usually aimed at men. Thanks to 16 years of The Vagina Monologues, the word has become an empowering shibboleth for women, inevitably being exploited to sell feminine hygiene products. Even cynically so.

But now it's political. With the "War on Women" being a defining issue in the 2012 US Presidential Election, "Vagina" is everywhere. In February, Oklahoma Sen. Judy McIntyre (D) protested the intrusiveness of that state's pending "Personhood" bill with a sign that read "If I wanted the government in my womb, I'd fuck a Senator." In May, a woman wearing that slogan on a tee shirt was refused boarding by American Airlines.

It seems that "vagina" is now symbolic of the divide between those who believe that human rights begin at conception, and trump the adult woman's, and those who think the opposite.

It has led to some really ridiculous scenes. This month, Michigan Rep. Lisa Brown (D) was officially banned from speaking on the house floor after stating (in response to a debate on restricting access to emergency contraception) "I'm flattered you're all so interested in my vagina. But no means no."

Republican Rep. Mike Callton, The Week reports, said Brown's choice of words "was so offensive, I don't even want to say it in front of women. I would not say that in mixed company."

Vagina. (Just needed to get that out of my system.)

In retaliation, a number of women State Representatives joined Vagina Monologues author Eve Ensler for a command performance of her groundbreaking play about women's sexuality.

Via CTV

As well, the incident has inspired some empathetic men to join in on the fun, via YouTube:





I am enjoying the mockery. Hopefully, it will motivate those who are already predisposed to this side of the issue to get more politically active, via groups like Rock The Slut Vote. Because it sure won't change the mind of anyone on the opposite side. When you're dealing with religious convictions, mockery only makes them stronger by validating their own fears of religious persecution.

This is going to be an interesting year in the United States. A year in the hands of people who have vaginas. And I wish them the best of luck. Not only because I support them politically, but also because they are reclaiming the true meaning of the word "vagina" — that is, the internal organ.

As a word man, I wince whenever people misuse the word when they mean to say "vulva"...

What won't you put in your... you-know-what? #FdAdFriday

The normalization of the word "vagina" in public discourse continues with this fun campaign by Sir Richard's Condoms:



This is part of a viral campaign for their "chemical-free" condoms, which invites women to fill in this blank:

The company is encouraging sharing on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with the hashtag #VaginaRule.

They are also dabbling, once again, in sexual politics:

Good for them! Not only for a funny and empowering campaign, but for using the word "vagina" in an anatomically correct way.

Tip via AdFreak

F'd Ad Fridays: The Big Coloring Book of Vaginas

Wow, Mommy Blogs are getting pretty cool.

This item showed up in Cafe Mom's The Stir:

Ummmm....

From the blog:

"The Big Coloring Book of Vaginas is definitely (definitely!) not a kids' book. But it's a book I would like to "share" with my daughter in some way. Now, at 5, I would never let her actually near this book since it's basically porn (the writer also has a Big Coloring Books of Co*ks as well and that one is definitely grown-up), but I love the concept.  

The vagina book isn't about masturbation for men (unless you want it to be) and is much more about body empowerment. This is a lesson I want for my kids and for my daughter in particular. 

The book encourages women to commune with their vagina, which sounds so silly to say (and what does it even mean?). But if you have ever been a mom to a boy baby (and I have for almost four years now), then you know that boys start "communing" with their penises from a young age. 

We've had to actively train our son not to pull down his pants all the time and share his favorite thing in the world with the whole world. It makes us laugh how proud he is of his nether regions and most of the boy moms I know say their sons are the same. "Penis pride" is a real thing, people. 

Girls, on the other hand, have no equivalent. Maybe it's because all of our workings are more on the inside, but my daughter doesn't run around feeling so excited about herself in the way my son does. I wish she did."

Okay, Sasha Brown-Worsham. You are cool in my book. I should point out, however, that my book would use the word "vulva". So much nicer. And accurate.

For the love of all that is vaginal, please stop!

Summer's Eve pissed off women and men alike last year with their appalling "deodorize your ladybits before asking for a raise" ad. Then they baffled with their attempted "That's So Vaginal!" viral.

Now, they're continuing their (ironic, in my opinion) celebration of the vagina in this over-the-top epic:



"Show it a little love"? Seriously?  I'm sure that you already know the best way to love yourself below is to keep scented and irritating products the hell out of there.

According to AdFreak, Summer's Eve attempted to stop the bad PR by going on a "listening tour" of the United States. The result is this campaign from The Richards Group that quickly goes from glorifying ancient motherhood and fertility cults to positioning a woman's sex as a possession for men to fight and kill over. And this is supposed to be a step forward?

This unmitigated crapfest follows hot on the heels of a YouTube campaign featuring patronizing talking vaginahands:









Here's an idea: if you really care so much about women's intimate health, stop spreading misinformation about the malodorousness and care of their privates just to sell useless and damaging chemical crap.

And leave the vagina viral marketing to Mooncup. They do it way better.

That may be it for Work That Matters this week. I'm off to the mostly-offline bliss of the cottage. After reviewing a campaign like this, I need a break from being an adman.