Summer's Eve's much-talked about "Hail to the V" ad campaign is no more. The videos showed talking hands that were supposed to represent vaginas, but it wasn't the unsubtle depiction of genitalia that got the company in trouble. It was the racial undertones of the depictions. After defending their ads against critics, The Richards Group ad agency surrendered Wednesday and pulled the videos from YouTube. "Stereotyping or being offensive was not our intention in any way, shape, or form," said agency spokesperson Stacie Barnett. "The decision to take the videos down is about acknowledging that there's backlash here. We want to move beyond that and focus on the greater mission."
Summer's Eve and The Richards Agency had hoped that the videos would make women feel more empowered. After all, the feminine hygiene company took flak last year for an ad that told women to douche before asking for a raise. We're not completely surprised that this year's campaign didn't work out. As we said last week, there's really no good way to advertise douching products.
In case you missed the ads altogether, Stephen Colbert did a reenactment on his show.
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