Two Knives

Church & Dwight Co., Inc. is peddling a hair removal cream to 10-year-old girls.

From the New York Times:

“I am a citizen of the world,” reads the ad copy. “I am a dreamer. I am fresh. I am so not going to have stubs sticking out of my legs.” 

This is an incredibly disturbing advertising trend: empowering girls = The Next Big Thing.

And we know how marketers like to latch on to the Next Big Thing. Until something else comes along.

We (and I mean we, this campaign is aimed at Moms) are to associate strong, independent daughters with hair removal. Can anyone tell me any other time a Mom would encourage a child to apply chemicals – strong enough to dissolve hair – to their skin?

Well, maybe if it can become one of those very special mother-daughter moments:

“When a girl removes hair for the first time, it’s a life-changing moment,” said Stacey Feldman, vice president for marketing at the women’s health and personal care division.

Uh, no, Ms. Feldman, hair removal is not a life-changing event. Unless you are shaving your head because of your chemo treatments. Birthing a child is a life-changing moment. Making a lifetime commitment to your partner is a life-changing moment. Losing your parents is a life-changing moment.

Tim Walker at Hoover’s Business Insight Zone says flat out: “Nair shouldn’t be marketing to [10-year-olds].”

I tend to agree. This is the point where I’ll ask Church & Dwight: does selling hair removal creme to 10-year-old girls contribute to their health and well-being?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2007 at 9:09 am and is filed under Marketing to Children. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.