Summer's Eve has a message for you: your vagina is dirty. It's not surprising that a company based on that premise would launch an advertising campaign that is as equally horrendous as the flawed medical information its entire product line is based on. On that note, the Worst Advertising Campaign of the Summer Award goes to them.
In an effort to convince women with iPods to jump on the bandwagon of antiquated beliefs concerning vaginal cleanliness, Summer's Eve commercials entitled "Hail to the V" now feature a modern, sassy, independent talking hand vagina. I couldn't make that last sentence sound stupider if I tried, but those are the facts.
These hand vaginas all have varying levels of melanin in their skin cells and are therefore required to take on extremely caricatured projections of racial stereotypes. The black vagina hand begins with the obligatory "Giiiiiiiiirl..." (that's the only way to get black females'- attention) and goes on to talk about getting her hair did (at the pubic hair beauty parlor?) in a voice that sounds less Michelle Obama and more The Jeffersons. She mentions "hitting the club" because that's what black vaginas love to do.
Featured YouTube Comment: "This is so racist. As a black girl, I'm disgusted. I will never buy products from this company."
The Latina hand vagina begins with "Ay-yi-yi" (of course- Spanish speaking women perk up when they hear that) and sounds kind of like Ugly Betty's older sister. At one point she goes into an overly dramatized string of Spanish where the accent seems a little forced, if not fake. A reference is made to having babies because that is important to Latina women. All of them.
Featured YouTube comment: "F--- you Summer's Eve! A talking vagina, who has seen it all and with an accent? So f------ out of touch with latinas! Btw, as it's well known, your products do more harm than good. F--- you Summer's Eve!"
Even white ladies aren't left untouched by the Summer's Eve campaign against stinky genitals. There are no stereotypes because white people are all different, but there is a call to action because you can't spell "Caucasian" without "cause". OK, you can, but you almost can't. In this video, the white vagina asks its audience to "join the cause of educating women nationwide." I suppose only the white vaginas can be trusted with a task.
Featured YouTube Comment: "Women don't need this crap. Soap and water is fine."
I have no words for Summer's Eve. Just a bewildered look in my eye. Are you serious? I can almost imagine the marketing people high five-ing each other after coming up with this gem of a campaign.
It's my official recommendation that Summer's Eve not bother with apologies or statements from the female COO and African American file clerk. Instead, just replace each video with black lettering against a white background that reads: WE EFFED UP.