Annovera, the Birth-Control Brand, Wants Women to Unapologize

The tone of birth control ads has shifted. There’s more sarcasm, wit and a confident attitude juxtaposed with pertinent medical information. Remember Annie Murphy’s ad for Phexxi?

Annovera, an annual, procedure-free birth control, believes it’s time for women to stop apologizing for who they are and what they want.

A 2:15 video starring spokeswoman Whitney Cummings immediately sets the tone. “Since forever, us vagina owners have had to apologize for simply … having a vagina,” she says. Following a quick rundown on Annovera, Cummings and friends begin unapologizing for when they couldn’t be their best selves.

Like the woman who wants to wear high heels on a first date, or another woman whose parents are waiting for grandchildren. They unapologize and Cummings adds zingers to each one. “Get over it Mark and Tina. Start crafting,” she remarks to the parents wanting grandkids.

They also unapologize for not wanting to have a painful procedure so they won’t get pregnant and not wanting to take a birth control pill every day.

A 60-second version focuses more on the birth control while still keeping things sassy.

“Women don’t want to be told to do more. They do enough,” says Maru Kopelowicz, executive creative director of McCann NY, the agency behind the campaign. “Our tone came from our insight that women sacrifice so much emotional, physical and mental energy just to not get pregnant. It’s finally time to give them solutions that meet them where they are without demanding more from them.”

Ads are running on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Hulu. Later this month, additional short-form versions will be added to TikTok and Snapchat.

“The time for compromise around birth control has come and gone; women need solutions that work for them,” Kopelowicz tells Muse. “For that reason, we believe that birth control should meet women where they are, so they can focus on themselves.”

CREDITS

Client – Annovera, Therapuetics MD
Kristen Landon, Senior Vice President of Marketing
Tom Moody, Executive Director, Reproductive Health Marketing
Hope MacDonald, Associate Director, Consumer Marketing
Jennifer Salokar, Associate Product Manager, Reproductive Health

Creative Agency – McCann New York
Pierre Lipton, Co-Chief Creative Officer 
Shayne Millington, Co-Chief Creative Officer
Maru Kopelowicz, EVP Executive Creative Director
Craig Bishop, Creative Director
Peter Sherer, Creative Director
Cassie Powell, Junior Art Director
Sam Weiss, Junior Copywriter
Liz Der, SVP Executive Account Director
Dana Markiewicz, VP Account Director
Mercedes Ward, Account Director
Lydia Dembert, Account Executive
Erica Yahr, Chief Strategy Officer
Anna Andreis, SVP Group Strategy Director
Claire Stewart, Strategy Director
Debbie Dunlap, SVP Executive Integrated Producer
Alexandra Nish, Producer

Weber Shandwick
Leah Wiseman, EVP Client Experience
Asia Young, VP Client Experience

Production
Production Company: Gravy
Director: Laura Murphy
EP: Brent Stoller
Producer: Tanya Stephens
DP: Doug Chamberlain
Production Designer: Kate Bunch
Production Supervisor: Carolina Aquino
1st AD: Mark Robinson

Whitney’s Hair: Jess Switzer
Whitney’s Makeup: Nova Kaplan
Whitney’s Stylist: Tara Swennen