Waxing desperate over the return of pubic hair

Haven't you heard? Body hair is back in style.

Perhaps it's not great news for the depilatory industry, however, which would explain why these American ads (via Ads of The World) are trying so hard to denigrate — or at least minimize — the signs of puberty.

They might still find a market with hetero men, however, depending on how straight women react to this next one:

The difference, perhaps, is that not many men rock the back fur quite that magnificently.

Hey, I shave my face, so I suppose I'm a hypocrite for being happy that "bush is back." But then again, I came of age in the '80s.

Strange, violent, shaver adds from Saudi Arabia

These ads by Bold Creative Boutique, in Riyadh, compare precision shaving to precision slaughter of what look like unarmed civilians by Roman soldiers:

I know there are cultural differences in advertising, but considering this one was translated into English and submitted to Ads of The World, an international point of view is warranted. And the view from here is, "WTF?!?"

Vintage ads showing women as trophy kills

I recently caught this ad on Sociological Images' Twitter feed. While vintage ad sexism is easy enough to find, I'd never seen this one before. It lives on the site for Lucky Tiger, a men's grooming products brand, and Time says it's from 1957.

Apparently, taxidermied women was a thing in the 50s. This one is quite well known:

Via Retronaut

But it was still going on in the '70s:

Via Fashion Rat

Hunting metaphors have long been part of the culture when it comes to "courting", but taking it to its logical conclusion is beyond bizarre.

F'd Ad Fridays: PETA is against human fur, too

I think this partnership must have been the idea of a horny male Art Director who spends too much time dreaming up euphemisms for vulvas and submitting them to Urban Dictionary.

Or he's a big fan of Etsy.

Pic via Copyranter

If there's grass on the field, give it a Bronze Lion

These ads raise so many questions: Is it really a good idea to use a razor down there? Does she shave her pits and crotch, but not her legs? And why the hell does he depilate a semicircle above his junk?

These towels were created by BBDO Germany and supposedly left in grassy parks to promote Gillette's brands to men and women. Cannes gave them a Media Bronze Lion for "best use of ambient media, small scale."

I give it a "meh". I'm so tired of this "look how I represented the brand in a surprisingly visual way!" trend that's been prevalent in international advertising for the past 15 or so years. Awards judges (and ad bloggers) are not the client's target market.

Link via Copyranter