If you dare wear short shorts…
…today’s product for short shorts!
The legendary commercial jingle. There is nothing quite like it. A song that, like any good, effective song, gets stuck in your head and prompts you to spontaneously sing it out loud. I’m not alone on this. I love commercial jingles like I enjoy songs and well, commercials in general. “The Heartbeat Of America” moves me, 1980s toy commercials give me all the all the feels my childhood, and jingles like the one in today’s commercial take me back, even if the product is still around today.
So, who wears short shorts?
The kickline girls wear short shorts!
And if you dare wear short shorts, then you better use this hair removal cream of choice, which promises good results, days longer than shaving!
Who makes such a promise, you ask?
Well, let this commercial from 1987 show you!
Ah yes, Nair for short shorts!
Nair has been manufactured since 1940, a product with the purpose of removing leg hair, and keeping it at bay longer than shaving. Until 2001, it was manufactured by Carter-Wallace under a partnership with Kelso. Since then, it has been manufactured by Church and Dwight. The product’s name is a blend of “no hair.” Nair uses calcium hydroxide (formerly sodium hydroxide – lye) to chemically break down hair for removal, and comes in 25 different products that handle hair removal in wax and cream form, right down to bleaches, just in case your leg hair needs that perfect blonde look!
I kid, I kid!
The famous “Short Shorts” jingle is actually a 1958 song of the same name, and has been used in Nair’s advertising for many years, I believe until fairly recently.
I tried Nair for the first (and so far, only) time the summer between seventh and eighth grades (1996). 13-year-old me was clearly lazy and believed Nair was exactly what I needed to avoid shaving at all costs. I don’t remember it working particularly well, and hated the way it smelled, so yeah, totally gave up on the idea of never shaving again. I remember being so excited about getting it at the grocery store when my mom went shopping, and could not wait to try it. Perhaps it was that laziness, coupled with that catchy jingle, that drew me in, but it was so disappointing. I’ve said it a few times, I’ve loved commercials as far back as I can remember, and I’ve been sold on stuff I’ve seen advertised. This, however, just sucked.
I still see it on the shelf at the grocery store, and I’ve been tempted to revisit its use. Not that I like to discuss my grooming and hygiene habits, other than the fact that I have them and am certainly one of the cleanest people you’ll ever meet, but during the summer, shaving constantly is not my favorite.
So if I dare wear short shorts…I’ll just shave the good old-fashioned way.
Have a great Throwback Thursday!