A Battle Against Body Hair

Over time, there seems to be an increase in battles between Facebook and brands promoting their ads. This time, it all just seems to be a mistake with the algorithm. A shaving brand that goes by the title, Billie is in a quarrel with Facebook and their Fourth of July ad that they were having trouble running. Their new campaign,“Red, White and You Do You,” features women sporting bathing suits and body hair on the beach.

Issues seemed to have risen when Billie was not allowed to run the campaign as a paid ad as well as even boost the videos associated with “Red, White, and You Do You”. Both Facebook and Instagram flagged the entire thing, claiming that it was “adult material” and too sexualizing, two elements that are banned from these social platforms. Facebook’s algorithm detected an issue with the female body hair, citing that a portion of the ad is sexual due to a focus on certain parts of the models’ bodies. A spokesperson found the citation and removal of the ad quite peculiar and sexist since the body hair shaving industry is heavily targeted towards women. Although, Billie has come out and stated that they understand that the issue is a little sensitive to some audience members, they recently have taken it upon themselves to alter the ad to be more audience friendly.

The ad ended up rolling out on all social platforms like YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo, and Facebook gaining over a million views in the first twenty four hours. Even Refinery29, a media outlet praised its progressive movement over the taboo behind body hair. A spokesperson for Billie has stated that the ad was created to “celebrate natural bodies [and] to do it through the lens of the female gaze” (Alcántara, 7) and that it was not meant to be sexual in any means.

There has been a rise in movements over the fairness of gender representation on social media. This is not the first of many battles, but a victory was won with how professional Billie approached their ad. The ad features alot of representation and diversity, with women from all shapes, sizes and colors. There is no one left out in this campaign promoting self love and equality for all women.

Works Cited:

Alcantara, Ann-Marie. “Billie, a DTC Shaving Brand for Women, Was Flagged by Facebook for Its Campaign Around Body Hair.” Adweek, Adweek, 3 July 2019, www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/billie-a-dtc-shaving-brand-for-women-was-flagged-by-facebook-for-its-campaign-around-body-hair/.