Dove's Sleeveless Ready Campaign - File Under WTF

I'm all for Dove's campaign for real beauty and the real women they use in their ads as self-esteem builders. But the "Are You Sleeveless Ready?" campaign that says their deodorant will make your armpits prettier is just bizarre.

File it under who gives a fu*k about armpits. Kids are getting blown up in Iraq every day. Our president is intellectually challenged. Children are starving. Jeez!

Dove, you need to get a grip.

If Dove's armpit advice was presented with even an inkling of a sense of humor, like, say Remington's celebration of pubic beauty, or Phillips' Bodygroom Shave Everywhere, that would be a different story. But this is presented as an issue of genuine concern. The only thing missing is the armpit hair blog and the armpit shaving YouTube video. Lame, lame, lame.

So much of advertising and marketing takes itself so deadly seriously. Haven't agencies noticed yet that people are ignoring the vast majority of their campaigns?

Or am I just grumpy?

Yes, you're grumpy.

"File it under who gives a fu*k about armpits. Kids are getting blown up in Iraq every day. Our president is intellectually challenged. Children are starving. Jeez!"

Well, if that's the barometer, then who gives a f*uck about your blog, my blog (shameless plug: lohad.com), some guy on YouTube catching Ray-Bans on his face (pretty cool, really), anybody's Twitter (that may be the case regardless of any barometer), SecondLife (we can't even get our first lives straight!), a cool new brand like kajeet (another shameless plug), making another blog comment like this one ("opinions are like assholes..."), or any one of a gazillion other things that command our professional attention day in and day out.

If you're (arguably) a news organization like CNN or MSNBC and you're spending the majority of your time reporting on celebrity pathos like Anna Nicole and Paris and Lindsay when kids are getting blown up in Iraq every day? Well, hell yes: Shame on you. Big time. Leave this junk to Extra and ET and go report the news, you idiots.

But advertising, marketing and communications professionals *should* be paying attention to advertising, marketing, and communications issues. Let's just be sure to view ourselves in the proper perspective in the scheme of things.

Because there are undoubtedly advertising, marketing and communications professionals who *do* think that your armpit is as crucial a battleground as Baghdad.

Those are the assholes I don't give a f*ck about.

Ewwwwwwwwww.

Women's underarms. What were they thinking? Makes me grumpy. And I hit the remote.

Yup, there's beauty.
And then there's real life. And real beauty.
Armpits ain't that, though they're definitely real.
Even mine.

Jeff: Armpits are for real, and they're ticklish, among other things.

WHat's sorely missing in Dove's campaign is a sense of humor. Just look at what Phillips and Remington did with equally sensitive areas.

when advertisers/marketers take something like armpits that seriously -- did we really need a quiz about armpits -- the approach is a real turnoff. armpits, on the other hand, are quite nice and I like mine a lot.

Craig - YOU'RE calling ME grumpy. hahahahahahahahaha. that's a good one.

Yeah, we're all grumpy - but at least women can blame it on our hormones! I like Dove's campaign in general but most of it has been lacking in humour. Let's hear it for laughter lines, an ability to laugh at ourselves (and our menfolk/kids/pets) and a strong sense of irony.