Safe Sex: Has a Nice Ring to It

            Don’t be fooled by the pun incorporated into this advertisement’s slogan; the messages conveyed by these three simple words are surprisingly persuasive and powerful. Primarily, the word “freedom” is referring to this specific brand of birth control, Nuva Ring, which does not need to be taken everyday, consequently freeing women from the responsibility of remembering daily medicine. More broadly, though, birth control offers women the freedom to engage in sex safely, essentially liberating them from the anxieties and doubts that are unavoidable side effects of unprotected sex.

           The actual phrase, “Let freedom ring,” has been cleverly reworked into a reference to the shape of Nuva Ring’s contraception method. This passionate line, featured in “My Country, Tis of Thee,” is immediately evocative of strident patriotism, imbuing the ad with a zealous enthusiasm for birth control. The image accompanying the ad, in which a female hand is boldly and proudly holding up a Nuva Ring, serves to further intensify the triumphant tone of the advertisement. This simple advertising slogan, at first interpreted as a clever pun, actually has distinctly empowering undertones, transforming this Nuva Ring advertisement into an impassioned commentary on birth control and female liberation.