Excuse me for once again having a chat with you about vaginas. Damiva, a new brand of products for ladybits whose name is a portmanteau of dame and diva, is releasing an ad campaign by Toronto creative agency Open for a vaginal moisturizer called Mae by Damiva, named after Mae West. Of course, vaginal moisture is a slippery topic. While the West considers a gushing vagina a turn-on and a symbol of youth and vigor, in places like South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Haiti, it's the opposite. There, women are known to use drying agents and sponges to get that dry, virginal feel that men prefer. A few months ago, I wrote about the feminist backlash against a vaginal tightening cream in India called 18 Again that used the language of female empowerment to hawk a product clearly intended for male pleasure. Damiva has done a similar thing with its campaign, which has lines like, "Get ready to feel like a teenager again, but with better judgment" and "Your vagina, and your honey, will thank you." But there will be no feminist outcry here. The product is well positioned, the copy is sassy and targeted at older women who are quite familiar with the suggestion that age has rendered them sexually inadequate. In fact, I'd say Damiva has a perpetual market so long as it's easier to buy a pill than to explain to your "honey" what constitutes adequate foreplay. But before all the pre-menopausal women in the house go hog wild trying to relive the carefree, lubricated days of their youth, know that Mae by Damiva is not compatible with latex condoms. And as DDB reminds us, old people have STDs, too. More images and credits below.
CREDITS
Client: Damiva
Founder, CEO: Chia Chia Sun
Agency: Open, Toronto
Partner, Creative: Martin Beauvais
Partner, Strategy: Christian Mathieu
Project Lead: Anne Ngo
Writers: Kate Thorneloe, Claire deMarco
Writer (French): Laurent Prud'Homme
Art Director, Designer: Jessica Carter
Mac Artist: Dwain Jones