Hail to the V campaign
I love vaginas. Let’s try that again. I love women. Wait, let me start from the beginning.
Growing up I remembered two things to be true. Number one, that a bad day can be cured by having a bag of skittles and number two that I could do anything a boy could. The first still holds true (skittles just make me happy). The second I learned over time was not 100% accurate. I can’t use the bathroom standing up and whether we think it’s fair or not a woman still earns about 75% of what men make (read the march 2011 report here). However, I have always been a fan of girl power and consider myself an advocate for women.
This is probably how I ended up working at a women’s clinic as my day job. Not only a women’s clinic but one that serves a large Latina and Black population and at the end of the day I want to do something positive for my community. This is why I say I love vaginas. Every week without a doubt a woman walks in and has a random question about hers. I’ve heard everything from “my boyfriend says that I should get plastic surgery because mine doesn’t look like those women in the porn he watches” to “Well, my friend said that if I boil this plant it makes everything get tight all over again.”
It’s safe to say that whether we talk about it or not we do think about what’s going on “down there” and apparently advertising agencies know this too. Which brings me to the point of this post. Summer’s Eve “ Hail to the V” campaign. A campaign that urges women to try Summer’s eve feminine wash and wipes. Not only do they have a hand mimicking a vagina but they have an ad especially for Latinas (they also have a black and white version as well).
This ad is filled with every stereotype you can think of. Latinas are a baby making machine? (“I perform miracles, like that whole giving birth thing.”) Check. We are always spicy, hot and sexy? (“Trash that tacky leopard thong”) check. Don’t forget the breaking into a fast paced I- can- hardly –understand- what -she -says Spanish when we’re angry or the accented English.
Hail to the V could have been something that makes women feel good about themselves. Especially when many of us have grown up thinking that we have to be squeaky clean at all times and we should do special things to make us “cleaner”. Like using a douche (rinsing out with water or a special solution). Every gynecologist I’ve worked with has told our patients that they should not do it. It can cause irritation and inflammation of vaginal tissues, which make it easier for STDs and HIV to set up shop in our bodies. It also disrupts the natural balance of bacteria and yeast in which can cause an infection (what to know more? click)
Instead Hail to the V is a caricature, reinforcing stereotypes and turning consumers off from actually buying their products. Personally, that hand mimicking a Latina vagina does not make me want to run out and buy the product. Perhaps I’m over reacting. You decide. Here’s the commercial:
What do you think? You can also check out the Black and White versions of this commercial over at huffington post.
the Ella project 
