A lightning quick post tonight. I’ve just read this piece on Melinda Tankard Reist’s blog about the current competition campaign from Unilever for the Lynx men’s deoderant brand.
Basically the competition reads like it’s a chance for men to win a holiday in a brothel, where women are served up for their pleasure, in a distinctly pornographic manner.
I find it incredibly offensive that in one of their campaigns, for their brand Dove, they push the body image message with their “Campaign for Real Beauty”, supposedly a positive campaign for women, but with their Lynx brand, they’re using the objectification of women as subservient man-pleasers with no other value than their sex to peddle cheap deodorant and body wash.
To really rub salt into the wound, this campaign is being supported and promoted by Woolworths supermarkets. A company that purports to:
“recognises we have a high level of social responsibility, and we take these responsibilities seriously”
as well as:
As a member of those communities we understand that we have a duty to be more than just a retail outlet, but to also make a positive impact on the societies that we serve. We work to the principle that we can never take our customers for granted – we need to earn their trust and respect and this means acting responsibly both inside and outside our stores.
If you find this campaign as offensive and misogynistic as I do, please take the time to contact Woolworths and Unilever (I used the Dove contact page) and tell them very clearly that this campaign is unacceptable. If you blog or use social media, share the web links as much as you can and ask your friends and family to contact Woolworths and Unilever as well. If you can, and I realise not everyone has the luxury of choice, buy your groceries elsewhere too, until they pull this campaign.