That's the question my friend Elinora asks herself every time she sees this suspiciously meditative ad for Dove Go Fresh Body Mist, "in the same cool scents as Go Fresh deodorants." Variants include women in flowing dresses or underpants, writhing in harmony as little Dove logos waft around their armpits, tummies and legs.
Then one day, waiting impatiently for Life: Black Friday to return on Hulu, it hit her like a ton of bird-shaped bricks: "IT'S COOCH SPRAY!" she shrieked.
I don't know if she primed me for it or what, but the ad does have that timeless Massengill flair. "Mom, do you ever feel, you know ... not so fresh?"
Tagline on the Dove spot vibes almost like a tip-off: "Go beyond fresh."
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Just how many social networks do you belong to? Well, here's another one for you. It's called Creatives Connect. All the cool kids are on it from Ty Montague to Andrew Keller to Bob Greenberg to Tony Granger to Pete Favatt to Bob Scarpelli to Jeff Goodby to Marie-Catherine Dupay.
They're all laughing and having a such good time. Bob sent me a personal invitation and I think I'm going to join up right away. You should too. Especially if you want to win an ANDY.
This is one of those thing's that causes one to scream, "Oh for fuck's sake!" Or better yet, "Jesus, fucking Christ!" Why the harsh language? Because, yet again, America has lost its sense of humor and has gotten its underwear up its crack over an innocuous Motrin ad which pokes fun at babywearing. For the uninformed, babywearing (yes, there's an actual Babywearing week) is the art of carrying your child in a sling. You've seen plenty of moms and dads with a child slung around their bodies as if the baby were yet another MacBook Pro.
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Maybe after observing I never bit the bait on its muffin top ads, Facebook's opted to start serving more, uh, hygienic messages.
"Tired of shaving?" reads the ad to the right of my profile, accompanied by the shot of another chick's vag in a polka-dot bikini. "Enter today for your chance to win $5000 worth of laser hair removal treatments."
I can't recall having entered profile information about the secret garden below my torso, but in any case, Facebook, this hits too. Close. For. Comfort. Why can't you cater to my affinity for Russian literature? Or Jordan Almonds?
It merits saying that there are plenty of countries where people don't get as nuts as we do when ads zero in on race. But I still felt an "arrrg" rise to my throat when I saw these pieces for ChromaWhite TRX Skin Brightener, Dermalogica India.
The text at left reads "America's future looks bright, thanks to a black." Above the caption is the bust of a suspiciously white-washed Obama.
Thanks for the unsolicited commentary on our election, but what the fuck, guys? How does news of the States blackwashing the White House promote your skin whitening product?
Variant: "There are times when black can go to white." Okay, I'm not even touching that one.
Put together by the politically earnest cats at IBD Brands, India.
UPDATE: After this article had been live for a few hours, the guy who sent us this work apologized for any cultural misunderstanding and claimed the creative was just spec. And having sent us the material in the first place, he even tried insisting his agency didn't do it. (The creative credits appeared right below the work in the original email.) In separate IMs, he went on to say he doesn't work for the agency at all, and a mystery person from IBD sent it to him.
Dear IBD Brands Dude: We're typically really nice about this kind of thing, but you've done this more than once. If this was an honest mistake, here's a tip: don't get cocky and send us material your client hasn't approved.
If you simply can't take flak for doing a sub-par job, get the hell out of this business.
While logic for continuing the campaign may be suspect, I guess it speaks to its undying faith that for the third year in a row, OfficeMax is rolling out Elf Yourself (complete with bigger OfficeMax logo!).
Around this time last year, Elf Yourself had spawned over 11 million self-elfers. This year there's new stuff to look forward to.
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Last week, international underwear brand Sloggi held its second annual World Most Beautiful Bottom "Show me your Sloggi" competition at Club Quartier Latin in Paris. Out of 11,200 entrants who submitted photos to Sloggi, 46 finalists from 29 countries were selected with the aid of 31 million voters and a panel of seven judges including supermodel Adriana Karembeu, ESA Astronaut (huh?) Paolo NesPoli, conceptual artist Stan Murmur, FHM Editor in Chief Lomig Guillo, Invista Global's Michelle Rice Sloggi Global Brand Manager Thomas Herreiner and 2007 Sloggi winner Kristina Dimitrova.
The winners? Brazilian 20-year-old Melanie Nunes Fronckowiak had best female bottom, while French 27-year-old Saiba Bombote was named the most beautiful male bottom.
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Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which hasn't done anything truly groundbreaking since Subservient Chicken (actually created by Barbarian Group), continues to be the poster child for awesomeness in the eyes of brands looking for some sort of extra kick. Microsoft has handed its $41 million Zune account, previously handled by 72andSunny (among others), to the shop without review.
We've made it well known we aren't lovin' Crispin's current work for Vista. Please, Crispin, help us change our opinion with what we hope will be kick ass work for Zune. OK? Please? Can you do that for us?
[Ed. Seriously. Is it even worth any company to attempt to out do the iPod? Why even bother?]
- Wipe your ass with. Oh wait, we wrote that story already. Anyway, here's a new one. Now you can wipe your ass with Alec Baldwin.
- There aren't a lot of women who are 38DD and want a push up bra. But for those woman who are, Victoria's Secret has them covered (barely).
- YouTube is out with two new ad units; overlay ads in YouTube partner videos and Adsense-style sponsored videos which appear on the right hand side of search results pages.
- Um. Bearded Ladyboarding. Whatev.
- Åsk Wäppling has found an ad that does a perfect job illustrating how painful the first week of breastfeeding can be.
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OK so here's one of the most unlikely scenarios ever to unfold in real life. Thankfully, this is advertising which has nothing to do with real life and, because of that, we get stuff like this (faux?) Burger King commercial which involves poles, cleavage, flirtatious (goofy sounding) giggling, pole dancing, seductive looks and...erect chicken sandwiches? Clearly, we've been riding in the wrong subway car!
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