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Spot the Hoo-Hoo: Vagina Imagery In Advertising

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In "Can You Spot the Weenie?  10 Subtle Ads Crave Your Attention" I offered a glimpse into the use of phallic imagery in advertising.  While some of the examples were quite subtle, others slapped you in the face.  Not literally, of course.

Now it's time for a brief look into the other side of sex in advertising: the vagina.

For some odd reason I thought it would be difficult to find ads that utilize this aspect of female anatomy.  But I was wrong.  Oh, so wrong.

Turns out that as an eye-catcher, the "Hoo-Hoo" is used even more than the "Weenie."  What you'll see below is just a hint of what's out there.  I'm gonna start tame... but I would probably send the kiddies out of the room if I were you.

Vagina Image # 1: Suva

Porn for Terminators and RobocopPorn for Terminators and Robocop

Okay, I understand that this ad is trying to make the top of the helmet look like the scary mask from the Scream movies.  And it succeeds.  It also succeeds in looking like a robot's vagina.



Vagina Image # 2: Playboy


Yeah, big surprise.  Playboy Magazine.  Of course they're not remotely trying to hide what their product is.

I find this ad quite clever in showing the way that hair styles have changed over the past three decades...



Vagina Image # 3: Tara Magazine


The tagline reads "The Magazine with more inside."  In this case, the more is an impaled voodoo doll, a picture with the boyfriend scratched out and... I dunno... a plane ticket maybe?  All of this nestled quietly inside an unzipped blue jean vagina.

I hope my girlfriend doesn't have all of that stuff in there...



Vagina Image # 4: Anti-Rape Ad


My Spanish is insanely rusty (I remember how to say, "My pencil is yellow," though I can't remember how to write it...), but I think this is a "stop the violence/rape" ad from the  USAID, Red Nacional de Mujeres, and Union Europea.

If so, it works.  The image is evocative of something being ripped and torn, though why they chose the metallic color scheme is odd.  I could make a joke concerning Image # 1, but even I'm not that callous.


 

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Comments
Sep 21, 2009
by John P. Barker
John P. Barker's picture

Egad!

That is not subtle at all!

Sep 21, 2009
by Anonymous

#8

Love number 8, that is f*cking hillarious

Sep 22, 2009
by Anonymous

Spanish add

It says
"Let's break the silence"

"All against the rape."

Sep 22, 2009
by Anonymous

There's this erotic film

There's this erotic film festival in Barcelona which has frequently used similar themes to advertise it:
http://www.unraticode.com/unraticode/CartelFICEB2007.jpg
http://www.polanco.cl/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/entes_0018.jpg

Sep 22, 2009
by Anonymous

sex in advertising

Related: I collected the best sexy advertising from the last 2 years:
http://creativebits.org/inspiration/does_sex_advertising_sells
Hope you like it!

Sep 23, 2009
by Anonymous

#9

I think that is supposed to be a uterus and fallopian tubes, but I could be wrong.

Sep 23, 2009
by Anonymous

Wow

No way dude, major coolness!

RT
www.online-privacy.us.tc

Sep 23, 2009
by Anonymous

Uterus, tubes, ovaries and

Uterus, tubes, ovaries and vagina viewed classic textbook style. The author's seeing vulvas everywhere, but this isn't a vulva.

Sep 23, 2009
by Anonymous

Its not only there.

Its not only in advertising, even in lots of avatar images of people found in social networks and pics in pic sharing sites like flickr, I found similarities to genitals. They probably think it is subconsciously attractive to look at. Me, I dont find any attraction in plain ads that look like phallic or vagilic symbols. These are from an era where porn wasnt available at the touch of a button as it is now.

Sep 23, 2009
by Anonymous

The Apple

I think maybe it's the "apple a day keeps the doctor away" idea. Apples are normally associated with healthiness, and they have prenatal health in mind.

The Eve idea may be a little bit of it, too.

Sep 23, 2009
by J. Barker
J. Barker's picture

Ah!

Good call on the "apple a day!"  I don't know why I didn't think of that... I eat a lot of apples.  I'm terrified of doctors...

Sep 29, 2009
by Anonymous

face

reminds me of an ASSHOLE

Oct 6, 2009
by Anonymous

can't see it...

That battery ad is quite a stretch. I just had a root in my drawer, and two out of three of my battery packs had similar holes, so... you just had vaginas on your mind. Can't fault you for that... just stop trying to claim everyone else does as well.

Oct 7, 2009
by John P. Barker
John P. Barker's picture

Oh, I'm not claiming everyone--

--does as well.  But really... in 43 years of life I have NEVER had a battery pack open in that shape.  EVER.  Squares?  Sure.  Rectangles.  Yep.  Jagged tears in the shape of Australia.  Yepper.  But never like that.

Oct 12, 2009
by Anonymous

correction:

#3 is not blue jeans. It's a black leather purse.


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