Summer’s Eve Uses Racism, Sexism To Sell To Latinas

An ad campaign from Summer’s Eve to sell feminine hygiene products was recently pulled after protests that spread across the media, and social media platforms, and ultimately put the company to shame for their racist, sexist and frankly offensive ads. I wrote a post about the video ads in Summer’s Eve’s “Hail to the V” campaign, which used a hand in the shape of a V to warn women to clean their genitals, or as Summer’s Eve puts it, their “vertical smile.”

Summer’s Eve and the ad agency behind the ads actually sees them as “empowering women.”  Yes, Summer’s Eve, you’re right — these ads are “empowering women” in the same way that Taco Bell ads empower Latinos. Beyond the misogyny that runs rampant in each of their ads (some more than others), the ads also poke fun at some popular and offensive stereotypes about women of color.  Because I’m also a feminist, I will be pointing out instance of racism and misogyny in the ads and you can decide for yourself if you agree.  I think that the ads (see here) pretty much speak for themselves though.

The ads are split into three separate racial groups: white, Latina and black.  The ads target each group in their own “special” way, and it’s interesting that the ad directed at white women points out their desire to “vadazzle” their vaginas with luxury spa treatments (ridiculous!), while the ads directed at Latinas and black women are filled with more unflattering and offensive stereotypes.

Stereotypes in the video marketed to Latinas:

• Tacky and obnoxious Latina accent that sounds horribly forced and stereotypical.
• The giving birth thing is what Latinas are all about?  So what, they’re baby machines?
• Leopard thong?  So, Latinas are “sexually adventurous”?  This seems to play into the idea that Latinas are “exotic” and “sexually promiscuous”.
• Latinas have “seen it all”?  Ok, so just how “easy” are they trying to imply Latinas are?

Stereotypes in the video marketed to African-American women:

• Sassy “Black” voice, because apparently, all black women say, “Mmmm-hmm” and “Wowza”.
• Summer’s Eve thinks that Black women spend too much time on their hair and “blow off” feminine hygiene?
• According to the video, without these products, Black women are dry and itchy “down under”.
• Black women are apparently spending a lot of time out “clubbing” and hooking up after, so extra measures are needed to “stay fresh”.

Summer’s Eve has decided to pull their talking vagina ads in response to the criticism. The latest news is a slight relief, but also still lurking in the tragic category. The Huffinton Post and a slew of others have jumped to the cause to get rid of these offensive ads.  Change.org launched a recent petition asking them to remove their battle scene ad and Forbe’s Magazines’s Ann Doyle wrote an intriguing piece on its affront to women. The scariest part is that Summer’s Eve, their ad agency, The Richard’s Group, and it’s research firm that approved the ads, won’t cop to any guilt!  In a recent article on AdWeek,The Richard’s Group‘s PR rep, Stacy Barnett had this to say:

Stereotyping or being offensive was not our intention in any way, shape, or form …The decision to take the videos down is about acknowledging that there’s backlash here. We want to move beyond that and focus on the greater mission.

We do not think they are stereotypical, nor did we obviously intend that. However, it’s a subjective point of view..There seems to be an important perception out there that they may be, and we would never want to perpetuate that.”

If anyone should get to judge what a stereotype looks and feels like, it should be people of color, not white male executives with no idea of what it feels like to have assumptions about your “ethnicity” paraded through an ad such as this.  One more example of how white privilege can wash away the views of people of color and make their concerns seem petty.

Chantilly Patiño writes the blog Bicultural Mom, follow her on Facebook and Twitter @biculturalmom.