Blog of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research
Via Tracy Clark-Flory at Broadsheet, I learned of this new internet campaign from Stayfree.
At last, my girlish fantasies realized! I have always dreamed of a man who would have dinner almost ready when I got home, and then mansplain the intricacies of feminine hygiene products while the risotto simmered.
Except I grew up in the 1970s, so my fantasy man shaved his face, not his chest, before our date.
[See also A date with Ryan and A date with Trevor.]
Step 1: Wash your vulva.
Yep, you’re a lady, so step 1 in asking your boss for a raise is washing your ladyparts with special ladysoap. It’s not until step 8 that we get around to “focus on things you’ve done for the company’s bottom line”.
(Actual advertisement from actual ladymag.)
ETA 08/27/2010: Via the always-awesome Bitch magazine, we’ve learned that Summer’s Eve brand manager has apologized for this ad, and is working to remove it from circulation:
Hi I am Angela Bryant, Summer’s Eve Brand Manager. I would like to first of all apologize if this ad in anyway has offended anyone. We are taking immediate next steps to remove the ad from circulation. We want you to know that Fleet Laboratories and the Summer’s Eve brand have the utmost respect for women. While we understand how some may come to an alternative conclusion regarding our recent ad, that was never our intention. Thank you.
[via Trixie Films]
The lovely ladies of LunaPads have made a sweet little video that explains why you should make the switch from paper products to cloth pads – in less than 90 seconds!
If you’ve already made the switch, this is an easy way to persuade your friends. You can email it, Tweet, share it on Facebook, heck, cue it up on your smartphone and show it to ‘em!
Ladies, are your tampons doing enough? Apparently absorbing menstrual fluid without leaking is no longer sufficient: new, Brilliant pH tampons “are clinically shown to reduce the usual feminine pH increase that occurs during your period.”
But let Dr. Streicher explain in this commercial for Brilliant pH tampons.
Video should open in new window.
Of course, Brilliant also includes a “comfortable, soft plastic applicator” with “smooth rounded tip” and raised ridge for “easy grip”.
Procter & Gamble femcare ads are such an easy target. It’s shooting fish in a barrel.
Periods = lightning? Really? And the classic deictic euphemism, “it”, well, that just makes me tired.
At least there’s no blue liquid.
[via my friend Khalil]
Is it just me, or is Tampax’s “Outsmart Mother Nature” campaign wearing a little thin?
These two ads, from the June, 2010, edition of a ladymag, seem lackluster. Visually, they’re just not easy to read.
Serena burns a hole into Mother Nature’s monthly gift? She damages menstruation? How are we to interpret this image?
This one is also a little strange. Cut Mother Nature down to size? Doesn’t this imply reducing one’s period, which is more consistent with the advertising slogans of cycle-stopping contraceptives (e.g., Re-punctuate your life with Seasonique)?
When did the wheels fall off this one, Tampax?
This ad for Lifestyle stretch fit menstrual pads is actually a sticker placed over the drain in sinks of public restrooms. There are no flowers, no gauzy white dresses or white spandex pants, and it demonstrates the key features of the product, such as adaptable fit of the pad and absorbency, and there’s no blue fluid anywhere in sight.
What do you think, readers? Does it make you want to buy Lifestyle brand pads?
[via Copyranter, who tells us that this ad was produced by Johannesburg ad agency TLC Marketing]
Apparently Max le Tampax is all stressed out about heading off to the Tampon Academy, where he’ll learn all about freshness and vaginal awareness and how to be empowerful to women.
Something like that, anyway. I don’t speak French, so I’d welcome a translation of this ad for a new Tampax product introduced in France.
[via The Frisky]
Elizabeth Kissling’s March 16 post on the launch of the U by Kotex campaign and the comments that followed touched on the implications of the “new” Kotex products and their accompanying empowerment crusade. Comments ranged from how the new tampon applicators resemble glow sticks to how, with the new “menstruation optional” pills and implants, tampon and pad manufacturers are grasping any marketing ploy to keep girls menstruating and buying their products. Indeed, “empowering” women about their menstrual cycle and encouraging women to “celebrate their bodies” is a smart marketing move by Kotex in the face of the menstrual suppression option. The following comment from Giovanna Chesler’s on Kissling’s March 16 post sums up my own opinion about the “radical new product”.:
“Might I add that when I heard that Kotex was bringing a new, radical product to market, I assumed it would be a menstrual cup. What’s new about painting a tampon applicator? Still plastic. Still disposable. Shows how naive I am. Kotex selling menstrual cups… that would be the day!”
Let us not forget, these products still have the same pesticide-infused cotton and the same one-time-use, land fill-bound plastic applicators and wrappers.
Found on the web
So here’s an odd little study: when women are given a choice between oral contraceptives and the contraceptive vaginal ring, what characteristic is most highly correlated with a slightly greater interest in using the vaginal ring? If you said “tampon use”, you’re right!
Among contraceptive vaginal ring and OCP users, 247 (79%) reported using tampons. Contraceptive vaginal ring users were not significantly different from OCP users in terms of age, race or ethnicity, marital status, insurance, body mass index, or parity. Adjusted analysis indicated that tampon users were more likely to choose the contraceptive vaginal ring instead of OCPs.
The study was published this month in Obstetrics & Gynecology. The researchers conclude, “but all women should be offered the contraceptive vaginal ring regardless of experience with tampon use”. No kidding. Sadly, they don’t appear to be offered any non-hormonal contraceptive options, as this research was conducted in conjunction with The Contraceptive Choice Project, described in the research report as “a longitudinal study of 10,000 St. Louis area women promoting the use of long-acting, reversible methods of contraception and evaluating user continuation and satisfaction for all reversible methods.”
It seems to me that the researchers want to predict contraceptive choices based on how willing contraceptive users are to touch their own genitals, but apparently they can’t directly ask them. They might accidentally discover an interest in using a diaphragm or cervical cap!
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