Aussie ad hilarity: Woman carries pet … euphemism Update: Canadians got there first?
posted at 8:08 am on March 12, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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Oh, those crazy Australians! Only they could turn a feminine-hygiene ad into a controversy over a euphemism for the vagina. Despite a number of complaints, the Advertising Standards Bureau will not immediately bar television stations from running a tampon commercial that features a woman carrying a pet beaver everywhere she goes:
Campaign spokeswoman Penny Warneford told ninemsn they had only received seven complaints from the ASB and they are a normal part of “fem care” advertising. …
Ms Warneford said their research found that 94 percent of women aged 18 to 24 said they used euphemisms for the word “vagina”.
“They feel more comfortable considering ‘fem care’ when they’re using a name for it,” she said.
“There’s no point skirting around fact that pads or tampons are for your menstral period and we have used a euphemism for vagina so woman could stand up and address their feminine care.”
Warneford noted that most of the complaints came from demographics outside of their marketing plan — older women and men. Younger women apparently appreciate the humorous approach to feminine care, which certainly is a departure from the approach taken by advertisers in the past. Most commercials talk about “feeling fresh” and/or rely on dull scientific themes to get around the embarrassment associated with talking about the menstrual cycle.
Take a look at the commercial, and decide for yourself. Hip and clever, or over the line?
Is one commercial more objectionable than the other? Why or why not?
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Porcupine?
James on March 12, 2008 at 3:37 PM
Rooster?
Frozen Tex on March 12, 2008 at 3:39 PM
Ah. I see. I think you might be misunderstanding the two commercials. Neither one, in my opinion, is calling a woman as a whole a beaver. The Aussie one obviously not. The beer ad is referencing a past-time of some types of males, which is chasing ‘beaver’, not chasing women. In those situations men don’t want the ‘woman for a woman’ thing, they want the use of ….um, the beaver. That sounds bad the way I explain it, but I know what I mean. Some women do this, too. I would be shocked to find that all but the most #$%^@ of men would call a woman they cherished by a slang term for a body part. Therefore, the ads are not offensive, because they aren’t doing this. Feel free to laugh without guilt! :)
shibumiglass on March 12, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Uhm. You’ve lost me now. There’s trying to hit some beaver, and there’s looking for your soulmate. And they don’t always have to occur at the same time. In fact, the places you go to try to hit some beaver are not the places I’d want to find my soulmate, though I guess it’d be ok, for the sake of consistency. If I’m a slut, how could I hold it against my soulmate?
Calling me a what? I like it when womyn objectify me. That means they’re thinking of me as an object. To insert into their vajayjay. I’ve noticed a strong correlation between chicks staring at me like a piece of meat and me getting to know their pet beaver.
Well now I’m really confused. I thought it was that calling the body part by any term other than the scientific one was bad. But now it seems that calling them by any term not approved by jgapinoy is bad. Is that about right?
When your wife says “Hey, I’d like to polish up your John Thomas,” are you offended?
misterpeasea on March 12, 2008 at 4:27 PM
“John Thomas” doesn’t sound “cute-cute” enough…
His “Curious George” and her “Hello, Kitty!”?
Or is it, a la Monica form “Friends”, her “Delicate Flower”?
Frozen Tex on March 12, 2008 at 4:33 PM
Favorite pick-up line: Hey beaver!
Other favorite pick-up line: We’re having sex tonight. Would you like to be there?
(Note: “Favorite,” not “Most Used” or “Most Successful.”)
Maybe that’s it. So it’s ok to talk about beaver in the abstract, or when referring to a body part as opposed to the Person: I like beaver; Let’s go find some beaver; She has a gorgeous beaver.
But not when referring to the Person: See that beaver ordering a drink?
Seems like a not-very-consequential distinction.
misterpeasea on March 12, 2008 at 4:33 PM
More of an existential discussion….
How many beavers can dance on the head of a…. pin?
Frozen Tex on March 12, 2008 at 4:42 PM
DANG! HAHHAHHAHHAAAA
LFMAO I love it.. who cares.. they both make me laugh!
Anyone seen the Amstel Light “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” Commerical LMFAO… the guy making the woman hold in the middle of a kiss to go pee on a hedge is priceless!
Typically male commerical I tell you!
upinak on March 12, 2008 at 4:42 PM
So God has a case of the Vag too?
When women use pet names for their stuff, is that wrong too? Or just when men say it?
firepilot on March 12, 2008 at 5:52 PM
Man, people will whine about anything, won’t they? I kinda liked the first one, she treats it like a beloved pet, not an albatross to be endured, like many a feminist. Maybe my kinda woman.
The second one is just funny as all blue hell.
TinMan13 on March 12, 2008 at 6:46 PM
I thought Australia had platypusses, not beavers.
TC on March 12, 2008 at 7:06 PM
You can add the Go Daddy commercial with Danica Patrick to the list. It aired during the Super Bowl but you had to go online to view the whole thing.
Here’s your link.
Just A Grunt on March 12, 2008 at 7:27 PM
While I liked the Molson ad, I thought the Aussie ad by far the funnier. The actress just played her role perfectly. On, and for the record, I’m an “older [56] man.”
sondiehl on March 12, 2008 at 8:40 PM
Half the field hasn’t won a race, and even a certain Mr Gordon is known for getting irksome when he screws it up.
But you’re right. Women don’t deserve to be racing, unless they win every single race, or something.
I’ll concede that the Yanks love to hype up a female being in racing, but that’s hardly the girls fault, and “OMG LOOK FEMALE DRIVER!” is probably just as bad as “girls can’t race”.
Still, I’m reminded of a certain 2005 NASCAR rookie of the year..
Reaps on March 12, 2008 at 9:42 PM
Ed, if you have to ask you’ll never get it, I suspect. I find the first ad “cute” and remarkably inoffensive. The second one grates in an exploitive sort of way.
{^_^}
herself on March 12, 2008 at 10:00 PM
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