Chalk up “vertical degradation” next to “truthiness” on the list of amazing terms Stephen Colbert is entering into the public lexicon. Last night, the host of Comedy Central’s Colbert Report took on Dove and Unilever’s new “Ultimate Go Sleeveless” deodorant campaign during his popular segment, “The Word.”
According to a Wall Street Journal article that Colbert references, a Unilever PLC-ran survey showed that 93% of women find their armpits unattractive. The deodorant in question promises to help give women more attractive looking underarms in five days. As Colbert says, “Since they just made up the problem, let’s say anything made by Unilever can help.” Score another one for Comedy Central’s political pundits succeeded where major cable news channels continue to fail: addressing deceptive marketing head-on as opposed to kowtowing to brands for advertising money. Watch the whole clip via Gawker here.