Armpit Of America Ad Yanked, Dove To Donate Billboard Space To Charity

The Armpit of America. That’s a common insult aimed at the state of New Jersey, and for some reason, Ogilvy and Mather, the 76-year-old ad agency that has become an institution in the advertsing industry, thought it would be a good idea to include “Armpit of America” as part of a slogan on billboards in New Jersey itself.

Now the client who approved this stroke of genius is backing out. Unilever, the parent company of Dove brand soaps, deordorants and skin care products announced this week that the billboards that had been scheduled to go up in July will go to the trash heap instead.

“We take feedback from our community very seriously and have decided that we will not be running this billboard advertisement,” said the corporation, in a written statement issued Tuesday. “We did not wish to cause any misunderstanding and apologize for any offense.”

Oddly enough, Unilever’s corporate offices are based in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

The company now says that it will use the billboard space it already purchased to donate space to charitable causes.

The advertising image created by Ogilvy shows a woman with her bare arm raised, exposing her armpit, along with ad copy that reads: “Dear New Jersey, When people call you ‘The Armpit of America,’ take it as a compliment. Sincerely, Dove.”

Now, clearly, taken in context, Dove is not, itself, calling New Jersey the “armpit of America.” The ad simply acknowledges that “people” sometimes describe it that way. But when The New York Times ran a story about the planned ad campaign last week, the reaction from Jersey-ites was predictable.

“It’s insulting. That we stink? We don’t stink. We’re a great state. In fact, everyone wants to live in this state,” said one resident interviewed by a New York TV station.

Thanks for calling out my state as an armpit. I hope you have a sense of humor and find it funny that I’m going to go out of my way to never spend my New Jersey earned dollars on another Dove product ever again,” said another in a Facebook post. And so on.

So what was the point of the Armpit of America ad? According to the Unilever statement, it was to convey a message to women” that armpits can and should be considered beautiful.”