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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