Billie's Fourth of July campaign commits unshaven bikini lines to film
Female-first shaving company Billie – noted for its ad of a furry manicured toe and other hair-focused grooming ads – is back with the second campaign in its Project Body Hair series, which is celebrating women’s body hair through a patriotic lens.
'Red, White and You Do You' from Billie
Dubbed ‘Red, White, And You Do You', the in-house campaign comes just in time for the Fourth of July, a time to celebrate independence and freedom in the US, in turn encouraging women to embrace a freedom from body standards in the coming summer months.
“For over a century the shaving category refused to show female body hair – so much so, that we were watching commercials where razors 'shaved' already hairless skin,” Georgina Gooley, the cofounder of Billie, told The Drum. “By acknowledging that women have body hair, we're hoping to remove the shame around it.”
The new video pans across an array of three different women in an otherwise unconventional light for mainstream media: two bikini lines have overgrown hedges while the third picks at a wedgie from her bathing suit.
From there, the ad is a montage of women spreading out in total comfort, catching the sun’s rays while lounging at the beach and the pool, exposing tufts of hair, rolls, cellulite and curves at every angle.
“We wanted to launch a campaign that challenges the notion of being ‘summer ready’,” Gooley said. “A lot of women feel the pressure to remove every last strand of body hair when they're wearing a bathing suit so we felt like it was the perfect time to get out there and say, ‘No matter what you choose, you're already summer ready’."
After the success of last year’s ‘Project Body Hair’ campaign, the first-ever to showcase female body hair, Billie and director Ashley Armitage have teamed up once more to present to the world both the diversity of women’s bodies and their freedom to choose how they like to keep them, fuzzy or not.
Armitage, a New York-based photographer, is notable on platforms like Instagram for her portrayal of the feminine physique.
Gooley added: “Ashley is passionate about representing real women, in all our diversity and beauty, and the female/femme experience through the female gaze.
“This is the second time we've collaborated with Ashley since her work very much complements our view of how women should be represented in the broader media. We love her style and ability to capture women in a way that is powerfully feminine.”
By being upfront and acknowledging the various forms and appearances that the female body can take, Billie’s campaigns are geared toward making customers feel that their image is wholly their own.
“Historically, women's razor brands have portrayed body hair as 'socially problematic' in an attempt to sell more razors,” Gooley said. “The fact is, body hair is not a problem that needs to be 'fixed.' Whether you choose to keep your body hair or not is just a grooming preference.
“The first step to normalizing something is to acknowledge that it exists and make it visible – that's why we're simply showing body hair and celebrating our choice to do with it what we want.”
See the work and vote for the campaign by clicking on the Creative Works box below.
