Well, in the world of feminine products, we are used to euphemisms galore and funny blue liquid being poured into sanitary pads. Strangely, Carefree is feeling the heat for telling it like it is.
In its latest ad for panty liners, a woman asks, "How well do you know your body? Even that bit of discharge…is our body working to keep the vagina healthy."
Instead of punching the air at progress, viewers were horrified by the ad's realistic language.
“You never see a bathroom, you never see a woman using a product,” said co-author of the book called Flow: The Cultural Story of Menstruation. “They never show someone having cramps or her face breaking out or tearful—it’s always happy, playful, sporty women.”
So why is the Advertising Standards Bureau in Australia being ragged out (sorry) ever since the new Carefree ad aired? Campaign spokeswoman Debbie Selikman is scratching her head because after doing market research, Carefree found that women wanted to hear accurate terminology for menstruation and the like.
No more Aunty Rose. No more on Time of the Month. A vagina is what it is. And discharge is what happens to it.
Hard to believe that Courtney Cox was a maverick in the field of sanitary products. In her groundbreaking pre-Friends commercial for Tampax, a whopping 27 years ago, she used the word “period” on TV!
Why do we even need ads for tampons and pads? It's not like we get a choice in the matter. Should brands ax the euphemisms and the infamous blue liquid (clearly intended to spare squeamish male viewers)?
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