"Don't risk dudeness."
That's the tagline in Veet's new wax strip advertisement, which has stirred up some controversy online from both men and women. The 30-second commercial features a couple peacefully sleeping in bed. A clean-shaven man wakes up, shocked, next to hairy guy with a woman's voice -- meant to imply that women should shave to avoid looking like hairy dudes.
[seealso slug="dove-beauty-patch"]
The ad, which was originally posted on Monday, was removed from Veet's YouTube page and website on Wednesday morning. However, it can still be viewed through Google's cache.
At the end of the ad, the shaggy man transforms into a woman, and it ends with the line, "Feel womanly around the clock."
Backlash from both men and women immediately surrounded Veet's ad, with many claiming it shames women and measures masculinity by body hair.
Thank you #veet for reinforcing the idea that women need to shave in order to be deemed wanted or attractive #veetcommercial— Monika (@MonikaEmKay) April 9, 2014
If you concentrate misogyny, homophobia, transphobia and overall wrongness into 30 seconds, you get a #Veet ad http://t.co/AgLo1p4omd— will brooker (@willbrooker) April 9, 2014
Hundreds of messages on #Veet's FB page from users rejecting their sexist ad campaign: http://t.co/d41gq6H5ol #NotBuyingIt @discoverRB— Miss Representation (@RepresentPledge) April 9, 2014
The first advertising campaign focused on women shaving appeared in 1915 in an issue of Harper’s Bazaar, with an ad portraying a young woman posing with exposed, shaved underarms.
UPDATE, April 9, 3:36 P.M.: Veet has released the following statement on their Facebook page.
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