It’s hilarious when a bloke turns a pack of sanitary pads into gladiator armour. We LOL uproariously, when he snorkels in a sea of paper towels.

So how come it’s a scandal when girlie behaviour gets a ribbing. Look around. Your girlfriends, daughters, sisters and rivals don’t turn a bit of regrowth (an extra kilo, one crow’s foot, the beginning of a zit…) into Armageddon?

Havas Worldwide New York used a bit of insider information – that women feel a bit man-like when they are sporting tubble – to create a bunch of silly (read: no offence intended) 15 second spots for Veet hair remonval.

Girls, if you don’t want the world to know your insecurities, don’t air them in focus groups.

After Twitterland became a bitch-fest, Veet pulled the ads. That’s a shame. Not for Havas. It will live to make more ads and win more awards. But for women. Girls, if you don’t want to look ridiculous, don’t be ridiculous.

Even this very humble apology by Veet was violently beaten to death on Facebook: “Hi…this is the Veet marketing team in the US. We just wanted to let everyone know, we get it—we’re women too. This idea came from women who told us that at the first hint of stubble, they felt like ‘dudes.’ It was really simple and funny, we thought. To be honest, the 3 of us could really relate to these real-life moments and they made us laugh. Not everyone appreciated our sense of humor. We know that women define femininity in different ways. Veet helps those who choose to stay smooth. Our intention was never, ever, to offend anyone, so we decided to rethink our campaign and remove those clips. Thank you for letting us know how you feel.”

Here are the ads. Beware: Veet is busily spring cleaning the internet. If they’ve been removed, google. Someone will preserve them for posterity. I hope it’s me.

Credit where credit is due:

Agency: Havas Worldwide New York
Executive creative directors: Israel Garber, Lisa Rettig-Falcone
Director: Carlão Busato
Production company: Hungry Man