Summer's Eve has a controversial new "douche" ad campaign on its hands, literally! They recently rolled out three commercials in which hands are used as lady part puppets in its "Hello from Vaginaland!" advertising blitz.
And the talking hands come in a variety of "colors". Yes they are the hands of black, white and Latina women, and even have the stereotypical accents.
In one ad, a black hand tells women that using Summer's Eve products will help them be more desirable at night clubs.
"An extra 10 seconds in the shower, plus a Summer's Eve cleansing cloth before you reach the club and bam, we are so lady wowza," it says.
Another ad starts with a Latina hand exclaiming "ay yi yi yi" before later breaking out into an angry rant spoken entirely in Spanish.
"Next time you shower, show me a little love with Summer's Eve cleansing wash," it says. "That's all I ask. Well, that and you trash that tacky leopard thong."
The white hand tells women "you and me should be BFFs" before asking them to try Summer's Eve products.
The best part, the ads refer to vaginas as "Vertical Smiles" and ask everyone to "Hail to the V!"
The commercials were made with the intention of promoting cleanliness, but for many women it's the image of Summer's Eve that needs a good scrub. Critics are saying the ads are racist and condescending.
What are you saying?
Viewers serve up their thoughts.
Billy writes on Facebook: "People need to grow up and learn to have a sense of humor. Because God forbid if a company / commercial tries to diversify itself by featuring various cultures. Lord knows if it were all white hands, people would be complaining that latina women and women of color were not portrayed at all.
As far as the stereotypes, I did not find them offensive. Yes, you could pick out the accents and which one belonged to which hand, but that comes with their upbringing / country of birth / etc.
I feel so stupid, having to type this out when there was nothing offensive about this commercial. There was no negative stereotype, and the commercial represented as many cultures as they could.
And another thing: If this was a men's commercial about body spray portrayed in the same exact way, nobody would be crying racism. Nobody. But because it has to do with women, it's all of a sudden foul play because, God forbid we all have a sense of humor.
In short: People need to go outside, get some fresh air, and step away from the television set since people clearly have anger management issues if they are going to get upset over a one-minute long commercial. Get upset over something that is WORTH something."
@EyeOpenerPolice tweets: @maggiesworld great dish. that ad is very disrespectful and stupid defense needs to be redone
One viewer emailed: "You go girl..I agree why do guys get sexy oldspice commercials and we get treated like the worlds oldest proffesion."
Get in on the dish. Send me your tweets: twitter.com/maggiesworld or emails: maggie@39online.com or comment on the Online Dish Facebook fan page.
And that's today's helping of Online Dish.
And the talking hands come in a variety of "colors". Yes they are the hands of black, white and Latina women, and even have the stereotypical accents.
In one ad, a black hand tells women that using Summer's Eve products will help them be more desirable at night clubs.
"An extra 10 seconds in the shower, plus a Summer's Eve cleansing cloth before you reach the club and bam, we are so lady wowza," it says.
Another ad starts with a Latina hand exclaiming "ay yi yi yi" before later breaking out into an angry rant spoken entirely in Spanish.
"Next time you shower, show me a little love with Summer's Eve cleansing wash," it says. "That's all I ask. Well, that and you trash that tacky leopard thong."
The white hand tells women "you and me should be BFFs" before asking them to try Summer's Eve products.
The best part, the ads refer to vaginas as "Vertical Smiles" and ask everyone to "Hail to the V!"
The commercials were made with the intention of promoting cleanliness, but for many women it's the image of Summer's Eve that needs a good scrub. Critics are saying the ads are racist and condescending.
What are you saying?
Viewers serve up their thoughts.
Billy writes on Facebook: "People need to grow up and learn to have a sense of humor. Because God forbid if a company / commercial tries to diversify itself by featuring various cultures. Lord knows if it were all white hands, people would be complaining that latina women and women of color were not portrayed at all.
As far as the stereotypes, I did not find them offensive. Yes, you could pick out the accents and which one belonged to which hand, but that comes with their upbringing / country of birth / etc.
I feel so stupid, having to type this out when there was nothing offensive about this commercial. There was no negative stereotype, and the commercial represented as many cultures as they could.
And another thing: If this was a men's commercial about body spray portrayed in the same exact way, nobody would be crying racism. Nobody. But because it has to do with women, it's all of a sudden foul play because, God forbid we all have a sense of humor.
In short: People need to go outside, get some fresh air, and step away from the television set since people clearly have anger management issues if they are going to get upset over a one-minute long commercial. Get upset over something that is WORTH something."
@EyeOpenerPolice tweets: @maggiesworld great dish. that ad is very disrespectful and stupid defense needs to be redone
One viewer emailed: "You go girl..I agree why do guys get sexy oldspice commercials and we get treated like the worlds oldest proffesion."
Get in on the dish. Send me your tweets: twitter.com/maggiesworld or emails: maggie@39online.com or comment on the Online Dish Facebook fan page.
And that's today's helping of Online Dish.
