A Swedish health company has been criticized for using the C-word on “offensive” posters to promote vaginal vitamin supplements.
The ads, which were displayed on billboards in Stockholm metro stations, show a woman with her underwear pulled down and reaching for a bottle of pills.
The signs said ‘Chaos down there? Don’t worry!’ in Swedish, with the English phrase ‘you can c**t on us’ added below in pink font.
Health supplements company Elexir Pharma has been criticized by the Swedish Advertising Ombudsman for using “offensive” swear words to advertise its Happy Vagina vitamins.
Yesterday it ruled that the ads used “serious profanity” in a way that was “intended to offend.”
A Swedish health company has been criticized for using the C-word on “offensive” posters to promote vaginal vitamin supplements (file photo)
The Ombudsman added that c**t is the “most scandalous word” in English and is frequently used to “denigrate women.”
But Elexir Pharma has defended its marketing campaign, saying the use of the pun was a “conscious choice to challenge and break taboos around women’s abdominal health.”
He added that the posters were aimed at a Swedish audience and that the strength of the C-word depends on how it is used.
“In Sweden it is not as loaded a term as in the UK and, as a result, its use is more acceptable here,” Elexir Pharma continued.
“In some situations, particularly in feminist circles, the word has been reclaimed as a symbol of strength and resistance against patriarchal norms.”
However, this defense was rejected by the Advertising Ombudsman, who said that the use of the C-word may offend consumers generally.
Health supplements company Elexir Pharma has been criticized by the Swedish Advertising Ombudsman for using the word “offensive” (file photo)
He also noted that the Stockholm metro is full of “anglophones” who would understand the term.
One Briton who did not want to be named told The Local: “This particular swear word has a particular place in the lexicon of swear words and Swedes don’t understand that.”
“It was used in a context that was not funny, it was not intelligent and it was offensive,” he added.
A spokesperson for Elexir Pharma told The Guardian: “Our intention was to use the word in a context that highlights the strength of women and their right to their own bodies and health.”
MailOnline has contacted the health supplements company for further comment.