Blog of the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research

Hate ‘moisture’? You’ll love these.

September 5th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

Guest Post by Chella Quint, Adventures in Menstruating

A date with Ryan

Ryan HATES moisture.

So Johnson & Johnson’s Canadian division’s just launched a new Stayfree campaign that I found out about when a Toronto reporter contacted me for an article she was writing. The campain is a series of viral youtube videos that simulate a date with one of three archetypal ‘Mr. Rights’, segue into a product testing situation, and conclude with an offer of a coupon for a free pack of pads.

Now, you can’t argue with free stuff, and the viral nature of the campaign is a good hook to try and get women who have brand loyalty but who might be persuaded to swap, but I think it’s the pads market going for tampon users. A virtual date with attractive thirty-something guys with careers, skills and hobbies? That’s the top half of the 18-34 demographic and I’m pretty sure I remember reading we’re mostly tampon users, though a lot of people have swapped to reusable menstrual cups, so I think on that front these ads aren’t going to work. They’ve already got a couple of things working against them, and only the free stuff in their favour.

Dating the men of Stayfree

August 31st, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

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.]

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New “Brilliant” tampons

August 20th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

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.

Screen cap of Dr. Lauren Streicher ad

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”.

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But I Thought Lightning Never Strikes Twice

August 16th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

June 2010 magazine ad for Always maxi pads 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.


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Is Mother Nature Winning?

June 8th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

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 delivers smackdown to Mother Nature

Serena burns a hole into Mother Nature’s monthly gift? She damages menstruation? How are we to interpret this image?


Cut "Mother Nature" down to size

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?


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Today in International Advertising

May 24th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

Ad for Lifestyle femcare pads.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]

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Introducing . . . Max le Tampax

May 17th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

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]

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Colored Tampons: For Whites Only?

May 5th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

Guest Post by Nicole Luna, Marymount Manhattan College

"Try Something BOLD"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.

Extreme Fem-Care

April 26th, 2010 by Chris Hitchcock
Found on the web

Found on the web

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What do vaginal rings and tampons have in common?

April 22nd, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

Vaginal ring held up for display in gloved right hand.

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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Attention, U by Kotex: We have a message for you

April 20th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling

Guest Post by Chella Quint, Adventures in Menstruating


UbyKotex-2

Okay, Kotex? Here’s the deal: We’re only gonna stop feeling the shame when we take ownership of our periods. And we’re taking it back from you, dude. So you can’t reclaim our periods for us. You’re some of the people we’re reclaiming them from. Got it?

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I’d Rather Hold Your Bike than Your Tampons

April 19th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling


Is it wrong that I like this ad because it makes men look foolish for fearing tampons? It’s not that I mean to endorse mocking men as a class, it’s just that unlike the Kotex “Ridiculous” ad, this new ad frames something other than menstruation as this lady’s biggest problem.

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Readers should note that statements published in re: Cycling are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Society as a whole.