Parody considers Dildo Option after Dobbs Decision
Marketing professionals target Post-Roe world for humor
Several advertising professionals recently lampooned life after the Dobbs decision with Eff-Urself, a parody video that centers on one woman choosing to use a dildo to avoid having sex with men because her abortion rights had been taken away.
Sinda Agha was the film’s director. She previously directed, "Birth Control Your Own Adventure," which was acquired by The New York Times and nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy award. Agha has helmed several other critically acclaimed pieces surrounding reproductive health, including "How To Get An Abortion," which recently won a Gold Lion at the 2022 Cannes Lions Young Director Award.
The film features an eye-catching silicone dildo called "Eff-Urself," which is described as "a foolproof way to guarantee you'll never need an abortion – or your money back!" Viewers are reminded that this is "… one of the few choices you still have left." The set design and wardrobe harken back to the 1970s, a reference to when Roe v. Wade was decided and a nod to the fact we're seemingly going backward in time, eliminating 50+ years of progress in reproductive rights. Agha liked the fact that it poked fun at a straight cisgender woman, who was the film’s protagonist.
“We have our hero character being like, ‘Well, if I can’t have access to abortion, then I'm just gonna replace my boyfriend with a dildo,’ which is so absurd,” Agha said. “And I thought it was a great way to sort of pick up the ears of the straight men and make them realize that this is a fight that definitely includes them too.”
Che-Na Stephenson, the campaign’s creative lead, said it was a passion project for the women involved.
“We just wanted to use our creativity to cut through all the conversation that was going on,” Stephenson said. “And so we felt like satire was the best way to do that because that kind of disarms people generally.”
Stephenson said that the outlandishness makes viewers consider the topic carefully.
“Your ears kind of perk up and you're kind of curious and intrigued about what's going on with this particular piece of film and content,” Stephenson said.
Agha wants abortion depicted more frequently on film, which it most likely will in the near future. While tragedy may seem the predictable tone of those impending works, Agha feels that there is room for entertainment when portraying reproductive rights as well.
“I also think there needs to be room for lighter, more comedic stories,” Agha said. “I think that would really help dissolve the sense of shame and guilt that people have in seeking an abortion and the sense of social isolation that they have.”