Horrible Vagisil Commercial: "When I have an itch, down there, it's embarrassing !"
The term "down there" bugs the hell out of me - but not nearly as much as this Vagisil commercial does. Some women have a hard enough time saying the word "vagina" as it is, and having a commercial for a product that is clearly for your vagina, refer to it as "down there" isn't helping matters. However, referring to the smell of a woman's vagina as as lobster, fish, or skunk isn't doing women any favors, either, Vagisil. Thanks so much!
[via Feministing]
Here's the email I wrote to Vagisil a few days ago:
"Dear Vagisil Marketing Team:
I'm not entirely sure where to begin with this message. Last Thursday, while watching television, I caught the end of a new advertisement for your feminine itch cream. The part I caught showed a blowfish, a porcupine and a lobster. I was confused, to say the least. I even did
a double-take and wondered if I wasn't actually watching a DVR'd episode of Saturday Night Live. And then I remembered that I never DVR Saturday Night Live, so I was left being just confused.
Having worked briefly with advertising creatives, I figured I should give the concept some thought. Perhaps I should attempt to figure out exactly what you were trying to say about your product? Maybe sometimes feminine itch feels like a blowfish inside of you? But seems like it would be more prickly, not so much on the itchy side. Same for the porcupine. I saw the commercial again and caught the skunk...foul odor on occasion, okay, that animal placement was clear, although a little bit out of place with the other aquatic life. Is that to illustrate the personal perception of the odor produced by some
feminine itches? Again, I was confused. And...a lobster? Why a lobster? Is it the pinchy, prickly thing again? Because you covered that with the porcupine and the blowfish. Or to provide an image for an odor? The blowfish and the skunk have that covered, too. Are vaginal crustaceans something for which gynecologists need to be
testing? I'm pretty sure most ob/gyns didn't get that memo.
Imagine my relief when I saw last week's episode of "Best Week Ever" on Vh1 and they asked the same questions I have. I'm certainly not the only viewer confused by the ad, wondering if it isn't some bizarre joke. Was the concept created by a team of eighth grade boys, as they
suggested?
My suggestion, Vagisil Marketing Team, is that you just scrap television advertisements altogether. Vagisil falls into that category of products that people will buy, regardless of seeing a commercial for them. It's certainly the eponymous brand for feminine itch products. If a friend tells me she's itchy *down there*, my response
is usually along the lines of, "get some Vagisil." All women know about Vagisil. Maybe the occasional ad in a magazine would be a good use of advertising dollars, but television is a wasted medium for all feminine products. We know what we need and we know the brands we want
to buy.
Just a suggestion."
And here's their response:
from Vagisil hide details 9:38 am (10 hours ago)
to Tiffany
date Jul 5, 2007 9:38 AM
subject RE: Inquiry concerning your latest ad campaign
mailed-by combe.com
Thank you for your email regarding our television commercial for Vagisil®. We certainly appreciate the time you have taken to express your comments. We're sorry that you found the commercial offensive.
We would like to inform you that we have pulled the commercial.
Thank you for taking the time to contact us.
Posted by: Tiffany | July 6, 2007 1:19 AM