Everything Is a Vagina Worth Singing About in This Brand's Glorious 'Viva La Vulva' Anthem

Feminine product ads spent decades peddling shame and discomfort around the way women perceive their bodies, but there's a new era dawning. And now it has an anthem. "Viva La Vulva" is the much-anticipated follow-up to Swedish brand Libresse's #BloodNormal campaign, which boldly challenged the stigmas around women's periods (including, gasp, showing blood as red in an ad) and was rewarded with the Glass Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Lions. While #BloodNormal went right for the jugular with its visceral vibe and unapologetically intense motif, the brand's new piece from U.K. agency AMV BBDO goes in a very different direction. This time, the ad isn't just highlighting periods; it's celebrating everything that makes vaginas great. [kickout id="1"] Like all great marketing, "Viva La Vulva" is far more than an ad. It's a visually lush and wonderfully enjoyable piece of film that combines animation with inspired art direction, creating a range of vaginal metaphors that are bound to stick with you. (A woman who worked on the campaign told me recently she'll never look at oysters quite the same.) But the ad clearly doesn't work without the pitch-perfect track, “Take Yo' Praise” from Camille Yarbrough, famously sampled by Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" in 1998. The ad frees the song from its two-decade association with a remix and re-orients it in another new direction: being about self-love rather than just a desire to please someone else. Another excellent selection for the ad was director Kim Gehrig, who helmed John Lewis' "Man on the Moon" Christmas ad but, more to the point, created an empowering home run with Sport England's "This Girl Can." The new spot was based in part on the Libresse brand's research into how women feel about their vulvas. More than half said they felt pressure for their genitals to look a certain way, and 44 percent said they've felt embarrassed by the way their vulvas naturally look, smell or feel. In a statement announcing the campaign, the brand says it "wants to contribute to a more open culture where women can feel proud of what they have, can feel OK about talking about their genitals and can care for it without feeling ashamed." CREDITS: Client: Essity Brand: Libresse Global Brand Communication Manager (GHC Feminine Care): Martina Poulopati Agency: AMV BBDO Executive Creative Director: Alex Grieve, Adrian Rossi Creative Director: Toby Allen, Jim Hilson Art Director: Diego Cardoso de Oliveira Copywriter: Caio Giannella TV Producers: Edwina Dennison, Nikki Gherardi Digital Editor & Animation: Sofia Tavares Strategy: Margaux Revol, Alaina Crystal, Bridget Angear Art Production: Rhiannon Nicol Typographer/designer: Mario Kerkstra Retouching: Happy Finish Account Management: Sarah Douglas, Tamara Klemich, Sara Abaza, Sarah Hore-lacy, Phoebe Swan, Nina Bhayana Production Company: Somesuch & Co Director: Kim Gehrig Music: Sountree Music Postproduction Company: Time Based Arts Media Agency: Zenith

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Everything Is a Vagina Worth Singing About in This Brand's Glorious 'Viva La Vulva' Anthem

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