Sunday, August 14, 2011

Hail to the "V"


            So recently I was watching television and was incredibly unhappy to find that I could no longer skip the commercials (I like to pause the TV. and come back later so that I don’t have to watch them).  So for the rest of the show, I was forced to watch the ads about medicine that cause more illnesses than they cure, the ads from law firms telling you to sue medication companies, and fast-food ads.  One ad in particular came up that was particularly disturbing, however.  Maybe "awkward" is a better word.
            As a guy, I do not enjoy hearing about feminine products or the issues they tackle.  I really don’t want to hear about it.  So you can imagine my elation when a commercial for a woman’s cleansing wash came across the screen.  It was Summer’s Eve’s “Hail to the V” commercial (I will post the link at the bottom of the page to the YouTube video).  Not only do I find this commercial gross for its subject matter, but also I find it very awkward.
            The ad shows multiple men fighting across the ages and in different countries, all for the same purpose – a woman.  However, the ad never refers to the fight as a fight for a woman, but as a fight for a woman’s vagina.  Now, I have never been one to fight for women’s rights (I prefer to go for equality as a whole), but I would have to say this commercial is pretty darn sexist.  Did I mention that the end of the ad tells women to keep themselves clean (they say “show it some love”) because so many have fought for it?  As if to say “we don’t want to damage that reputation, so make sure you use our product to keep your lady parts clean.”
            And this is not the first disturbing commercial I have seen in the past month.  Before this one, I could not stand to see that commercial for the women’s razor where the bushes are all unkempt and as the woman runs by them, they are magically trimmed in the shape of a triangle or a rectangle.  I was watching this with my grandma.  It is as if the marketing execs just want to make my life as awkward as possible.
            As bad as I think this is for me to watch, I think of the parents who are sitting and watching television with their children as commercials such as these appear.  As a kid I could remember asking my mother what Vagisil was for when I saw it on TV.  Thinking back, I know she must have been terribly uncomfortable.  So what is a parent to do when a child asks a question about a feminine wash?  Are they to say, “Well, Billy, sometimes momma’s vagina isn’t so fresh, so she has to wash it with that stuff you just saw on TV?”  I highly doubt that would be appropriate.
            So what do we do to solve this problem?  Some may say that there is no problem (although I am sure many guys would agree with me on this topic).  In my ideal world we do away with all commercials, as I really do hate them, but I don’t see this happening anytime soon.  So for now, I guess, I will just have to make sure that I have enough saved time to skip all of the commercials and hopefully avoid the next ad for a feminine itch and odor solution.

Summer’s Eve – “Hail to the V” 

Schick Quattro Trim Style

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