A Gillette Venus advert has sparked outrage online after it shows a woman shaving her arms with a razor.
Social media was deluged with comments from viewers branding the new ad as ‘absurd’, with many claiming it would make teenage girls ‘paranoid’ about hair on their arms.
The advertisement shows a woman with tattoos walking under palm trees before running a razor over her forearm lathered in shaving foam as she sits in a bath tub.
The advertisement shows a woman with tattoos walking under palm trees before taking a razor to her arms lathered in shaving foam as she sits in a bath tub
It depicts females of all ethnicities, and others with tattoos and vitilago, shaving before laughing as they head to the beach
It depicts females of all ethnicities, and also those with tattoos and vitilago, shaving before laughing together as they head to the beach.
With the slogan ‘My Skin. My Way’, the shaving company promises a custom razor ‘designed for wherever you shave’.
But many viewers took to Twitter to express their anger and confusion over the company’s advert, with some questioning why shaving arms is now considered ‘normal’.
Others were ‘disappointed’ with it, claiming the advert, which is airing in the UK and the US, would make teenagers ‘humiliated and paranoid’ about having arm hair and that it added ‘social pressure’ to women.
One user wrote: ‘Wait, is that woman on the Venus ad SHAVING HER ARMS? Is that supposed to be normal now?’
The ad depicts females of all ethnicities and others with tattoos and vitilago, and comes with the slogan ‘My Skin. My Way’
Another wrote: ‘So I’ve just seen a girl shaving her arms on the Venus advert. Is this a normal thing for females to do!? Because I’ve never done this. Genuinely intrigued.’
One said: ‘Ffs there’s a woman shaving her arms on the new Venus advert. GET LOST RAZOR COMPANIES AS IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY MADE US PARANOID ABOUT ALL OUR OTHER BODY HAIR. Genuinely angered.’
Another said: ‘I was so humiliated and paranoid about having arm hair as a teenager because I just wasn’t sure if women were supposed to or not. How depressing that sounds to me now. That advert would have sent me into a spiral as a teenage girl.’
One said: ‘Just seen a @GilletteVenus advert with a woman shaving her arms. How f****ing absurd. Like women need that social pressure. Do one Venus.’
One said: ‘I just saw a Venus razor commercial where the women featured was shaving her firearms. Do other women do that? Never once have I ever thought to shave my arms.’
Another wrote: ‘On the Venus shavers commercial that I just saw they showed a woman shaving her arms! Is that a thing now?’
Another wrote: ‘Just saw a Gillette Venus ad with a woman shaving her ARMS, THE LEG-SHAVING THING IS BAD ENOUGH CAN YOU NOT LEAVE US ALONE??!’
It isn’t the first time Gillette has come under fire from viewers over razor promotions.
Hundreds of British men recently threatened to boycott Gillette over a new advert which references bullying, the #MeToo movement and ‘toxic masculinity’.
It shows a man talking over a woman in a boardroom, boys fighting and grown men ignoring them saying ‘boys will be boys’.
It later features men wolf whistling at women without being countered by their peers.
Britons were so angry about a controversial Gillette advert that they complained to the UK advertising watchdog – despite it not being shown in the country.
The new ad, which critics claim is an assault on masculinity and portrays men as inherently bad, has sparked 15 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.
And women who use Gillette products blasted the shaving company for sexism for marketing pink razors called Venus to female users – just hours after its campaign to tackle ‘toxic masculinity’ divided the nation.
Consumers blasted the global company and accused it of double standards over its branding which include the Passion and Embrace range.
Others even suggested the female-targeted products cost more on average than the male equivalent the Mach3 razor.
A spokesman for Venus Gillette said: ‘Venus is committed to celebrate every woman and every kind of skin.
‘Many women have told us that they are not only shaving their legs or armpits as portrayed in advertising but other areas such as belly, arms or even toes!
‘We used these examples in our advert to better depict women’s realities.
‘Our intent is not to put additional pressure on women but to help normalise the fact that hair grows in various areas of the body enabling a personal decision to be made on whether or not to shave it.’