Now I’ve seen everything. Shaveeverywhere.com goes where no product advertisement has dared to venture. How low does it go? Just below the navel. The web could not be a better place to advertise a razor that is not for your face but for “male body grooming” (i.e. your back, chest and ….uhm, your privates). Seriously, Philips’ Norelco Bodygroom razor ad could probably not run on television, but is perfectly suited for the unorthodox, laissez faire, interactive environment of the web. As mentioned in a previous post, the Internet regulatory body recently voted down a proposal for a new “.xxx” domain to mark pornographic web sites. Why designate inappropriate or offensive sites? Let people decide that for themselves, seemed to be what the ruling meant. So, now back to Shaveeverywhere.com — is it inappropriate? Pornographic? Offensive? I think it’s really funny. And that’s what Phillips is betting on, as well as the viral effect of a shocking site being passed around to buddies and co-workers. But not everyone agrees that it’s all just harmless fun. John Pollard at
Funky Uncle Marketing questions whether “any attention=good attention” and does it have to be dirty to be funny? “I think, in this case, though that they degraded the brand, and while this potentially has short-term gains (for this product), I wonder if it might have a negative impact on the brand and consumer perception of Philips”?

But, is claiming you’ll gain an “optical inch” by shaving your “bleep” with this razor really degrading the brand, or is it the most genius sales spin ever?

The one downside to the site is the lengthy download time. But it’s well worth the wait. The whole website has the tone of “The Daily Show” or “The Colbert Report,” and, in fact, I could see this Norelco guy as one of their special correspondents. Note: do NOT miss the music video.

What I want to know is — why this guy? They obviously picked a really average looking guy for a reason. Maybe it’s to diffuse the sexual context? Maybe to show that shaving “everywhere” is not just for porn stars or models? Either way, he works. He takes a sensitive and awkward subject and educates the consumer while being thoroughly entertaining. After all, as outrageous as the site is – there is a market for this product. So I’ve heard.