Do you like singing vagina cupcakes? Singing knitted vaginas? Singing pit fruit? Sea shells? Coin purses? Clams? Self-love? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then why haven’t you watched this ad already?!
Released on November 23rd, this advertisement—produced by Swedish feminine hygiene company Libresse—has been going viral the last few days, amusing people all over with the world with its catchy song and clever everyday representations of the vulva.
Honestly, as someone who, many moons ago, grew sick of the bombardment of harmful ads for paper period products and jumped ship to vaginal cups, it is refreshing to see an advertisement about pads that isn’t just a modest white lady walking around, wondering if her vagina stinks or not. Viva La Vulva carries no whiff of such self-consciousness.
Studies cited by Libresse, Ad Age reports, show why education of the female anatomy is so important: in 2016 there was a 46% rise in labiaplasties, including more requests for a “designer vagina”; over half of women feel pressure for their vulva to look in a specific way; 44% percent are embarrassed of their natural vaginal physique; and 68% of women recorded don’t know what their vulva (or any other person’s vulva) looks like.
Libresse has released ads in the past which represented the period in a natural way, perhaps for the first time ever by a feminine-product company. The goal of Libresse with Viva La Vulva is to refamiliarize women with their natural physiques in spite of the looming pressure of the “designer vagina.”
That being said, conveying appreciation of the vulva, no matter how diplomatic, it isn’t always a form of activism that coincides with inclusive feminism. The video clearly comes from a hetero-normative perspective, with statements from women at the end of the video, all commenting on how they’ve never seen another woman’s vagina. Well, I’m sure there’s a lot of us out here that this obstacle doesn’t apply to. At all. Not even a little bit.
But, overall, the ad is powerfully designed and will make you laugh. I know how easy it is for me to forget that my body is my friend and how quickly I can lose inspiration to connect with her. So, maybe tonight I’ll give myself a full-body massage or have a ritualistic naked hour, simply because I am worth it. Maybe Viva La Vulva will incite similar sentiments in you.
At the very least, I know we will be wondering how to get googly-eyed knitted vaginas on our tchotchky table.
Top Photo: Libresse/YouTube
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