It comes around only once a year. However, research and breakthroughs take place 24/7/365. Tomorrow, February 4, is World Cancer Day and as a survivor I thought it best to interrupt my weekly creativity posts with this special alert.
Those of you currently battling cancer or know of someone who has cancer, this info is for you. Dealing with cancer is traumatic and expensive or it can be. Seek out a clinical trial and a non-profit foundation for support and assistance. Your oncologist and the social services department of the hospital can be of tremendous help.
World Cancer Day held every 4 February is the global uniting initiative led by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC). By raising worldwide awareness, improving education and catalysing personal, collective and government action, we are all working together to reimagine a world where millions of preventable cancer deaths are saved and access to life-saving cancer treatment and care is equitable for all – no matter who you are or where you live.
So this year’s World Cancer Day’s theme, “Close the Care Gap”, is all about raising awareness of this equity gap that affects almost everyone, in high as well as low- and middle-income countries, and is costing lives.
Hopefully making a ruckus, one blog post at a time!
Be sure to check out my other blog, Joe’s Journey, for a different kind of playground for creativity, innovation and inspiring stuff.
My my, what will they think of next? I learned something . . . that, evidently, a pubic hair can sing! I did not realize that. What else did I not realize, Gillette?
Now, I know what you must be thinking: “What in the hell kind of blog post is this?!” It’s, uh, well, different.
This blog sets out each week to present thoughts and ideas about various aspects of creativity; those that touch directly on advertising and those that do not. This is one that does.
According to AdAge, marketers increasingly have dared to defy traditional taboos when it comes to personal care, as we’ve seen in more pushes around menstruation, breastfeeding and grooming. In the case of the latter, brands such as Billie razors andVeet razors have given the thumbs up to having hair wherever you want it, while EOS recently celebrated a TikTok creator who has been teaching her fans the best way to shave their lady parts. Now, Gillette Venus is jumping into the bikini line fray by encouraging consumers to “say pubic.”
The centerpiece of the campaign from Grey is an animated film starring a singing pubic hair. Yes, you heard me right.
“Hi, I’m a pube!” she announces before breaking into a Broadway-style tune, singing of her plight as a lowly, gnarly curl, hoping to be treated like her colleagues who spring forth from other parts of the body. As the tune ramps up, she’s joined by other pubettes in a Busby Berkeley-style routine.
For those of you unable to log into the AdAge site to view the animation, here are the lyrics to Gillette’s latest.
I’m just a pube, and it’s not fair. All I ever wished to be was just another hair But when they got one look at me The ruling from society was “Ewww” “Not you!” Oh what’s a curl to do It seems like all the ads are showing perfect skin and shiny hair But what about this other world inside your underwear? It’s ok to say our name You really can say pubic No need to be ashamed It’s even kind of therapeutic Why the mass hysteria about the pubic area? There’s nothing diabolical about this little follicle So take care of us, your pubic hair If you trim, or you shave or you’re bare down there Whichever way’s your way It’s all okayyyyyyyyy Yes, it’s okay!
Another push encouraging consumers to be at ease with body parts and bodily functions
The campaign aims to normalize conversation around body parts like the pubic area to make women feel more comfortable about grooming there. “Because pubic is not a dirty word, and your pubic hair and skin deserve its own care,” the brand said in a statement.
Gillette Venus had conducted a female consumer survey about the use of anatomical terms such as “pubic.” It found that nearly half of them believed it feels more accurate to use such terms yet only 18% are actually using them. More than half, 56%, said they wished there were more accurate imagery and descriptions in media of women grooming in the pubic region.
The campaign playfully addresses the issue, while the Gillette Venus site promoting the products also features imagery of a diverse range of women shaving their bikini lines. The packaging too, features the words “pubic hair.” Along with the video, the effort includes a TikTok component inviting others to sing “The Pube Song.”
“With over two decades of research and scientific development in women’s hair and skin under our belt, literally, we know that grooming means something different to every woman,” said MyAnh Nghiem, Gillette Venus communications director in the statement. “Our new collection not only offers women more options for pubic grooming than we ever have before, but starts a new conversation about using language that accurately and respectfully represents the female body.”
Okay, okay, some of you may already be saying, “Enough is enough!” You gotta admit, though, advertising ain’t boring (well, alright, some of it is; some of it is even dreadful). This spot tries to be educational, informative, and entertaining, I guess, if not a little quirky. Frankly, if you didn’t realize the animated curl was in fact a pubic hair, I’m not sure that you’d figure it out based solely on looks.
What will they think of next? Uh, I’d really rather not think about it.
Strikingly bizarre. Amazing how some life form that microscopic can wreak such havoc on mankind.
Global Enemy #1
In some strange way there is beauty among these images. Strange and weird and deadly. Awesome.
Let us never forget what we’re going through, will go through and have gone through.
The Horrors.
The ones we’ve lost and will lose.
Those of us who will survive.
No matter how advanced we think we are, we’re still no match for microscopic life on this planet.
Moscow
Building new hospital
Stock market woes
From Hong Kong to San Francisco and Italy to Israel and all points in between, the Coronavirus or COVID-19 has made its mark and as of this writing sees no stoppage.