Poor New Jersey! The Garbage State … er — Garden State has been the butt of countless jokes. Now one of them is to be the central theme in a billboard advertising a new deodorant product that reads:
Dear New Jersey, When people call you ‘the Armpit of America,’ take it as a compliment. Sincerely, Dove.
For an article on the new campaign, the New York Times picked the brain of Jen Drexler, senior vice president of the Insight Strategy Group and co-author of “What She’s Not Telling You,” as well as a New Jersey native. Her reaction was mixed. On the one hand she praised the ad for featuring women “with average or curvy figures rather than stick-thin models.”
On the other, she lamented:
Trending: Another young black was shot to death on Saturday. Where are the protests? And the media?
This is just giving women something else to be anxious about. Women do not think about how beautiful their underarms look and they couldn’t pick their underarms out of a lineup, so Dove is saying, ‘We’ve invented the problem, and now we’re solving it for you,’ which is a classic approach for beauty brands.
As for the billboard? Drexle said that the state, which has endured Hurricane Sandy and the bridge scandal, is in no mood to be a punch line:
It just feels unnecessary and like it’s kicking New Jersey when it’s down. Give us a break.
