Bedsider.org, a free online resource for birth control, has teamed up with BET Networks to target African-American women ages 18-29 through a series of TV spots from Havas Worldwide portraying painfully awkward discussions about sex and birth control with family and friends. The idea is cool. Talking about sex can be awful, but checking out a website about sex and birth control is awkward free, as long as you're not in a library or synagogue or elementary school.
The three spots feature a young woman having cringe-worthy conversations with 1) her grandmother, 2) her boyfriend and 3) her mother.
A little old lady delivers the line "Oh, you're very supple" to her visibly uncomfortable granddaughter in the best of the three ads. The spot featuring the IUD conversation with the boyfriend doesn't do it (pun!) for me. You guys are having sex, but you can't ask your boyfriend to tell his dog to stop humping your leg? Strange. The video featuring the daughter—wrapped in a towel, fresh out of the shower—and the overeager mother is the weirdest of the three. The line "We should talk, like, vagina to vagina" is seriously grossing me out.
Bedsider's goal is to make us all cringe; mission accomplished. I've maxed out my quota for hearing the word "vagina" today. Nobody talk to me until tomorrow.
CREDITS
Bedsider 2013 Awkward Campaign
Agency: Havas Worldwide New York
Chief Creative Officer Global Brands: Lee Garfinkel
Chief Creative Officer: Darren Moran
Executive Creative Director: Lisa Rettig-Falcone
Creative Director: Jeremy Pippenger
Art Director: Thomas Shim
Copywriter: Catherine Eccardt
Global Chief Content Officer: Vin Farrell
Integrated Producer: Candice Vernon
Group Account Director: Tamara Goodman
Account Executive: Alexandra Litzman
Senior Content Strategist: Shawn Shahani
Strategy and Analytics: Chris Lake
TV Production Company:
Director: Clay Williams
EP: Scott Howard
Producer: Debbie Tietjen
DP: Stefan Czapsky
Editorial:Mackenzie Cutler
EP: Sasha Hirschfeld
Producer: Evan Meeker
Editor: Dave Anderson
Telecine: Company 3 NY
Colorist: Tim Masick