Reality Check…Finally!
I just saw the latest commercial from Kotex and I actually felt like standing up and applauding. It’s about time! Nothing is more ridiculous to me than young women riding horses or dancing ecstatically in white spandex with big cheery grins on their faces pretending that they have their periods. And don’t even get me started with those commercials that tell me to have a “happy period”! Arrgh! Are you @^$~# kidding me? Quoting Wendi Aarons – “What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness—actual smiling, laughing happiness—is possible during a menstrual period?” Check out Wendi’s complete letter to James Thatcher of Proctor and Gamble. Too funny!
But the new Kotex ad gets even better because after doing some research I’ve discovered that visitors to their Web site, UbyKotex.com, are urged to sign a “Declaration of Real Talk,” vowing to defy societal pressures that discourage women from speaking out about their bodies and health. (Applauding louder now)
For every signer, Kotex will donate $1 to Girls for a Change, a national nonprofit based in San Jose, Calif., that pairs urban middle school and high school girls with professional women to encourage social change. Excellent! (Just threw in a “Woo Hoo!” with my applause)
I also love that the clips mocked in the spot are actually from Kotex commercials, some shown within the last year in the United States or Europe.
“We are guilty, so it’s not that Kotex is any different,” said Andrew Meurer, vice president for North American feminine, adult and senior care for Kotex’s parent company, Kimberly-Clark. “We’re turning the light on ourselves, and we’re not saying, look at what other people do. We’re saying look at what we’ve done in the past, which typifies everyone in the category.” Way to go Andrew! Kudos to you!
I love that advertising is trying this new fresh angle – reality. Cool! Now that makes me happy Mr. Thatcher.
3 Comments
Lozz
Ha…reality check alright…well done. I’d like to be a fly on the wall at a cocktail party when people ask Andrew Meurer what he does.
Tracy Westerholm
Love this ad, I saw it and thought just that, it’s about time! The poor girls who get their periods and it isn’t at all what they imagined. Reality Check is right!
jacquie
Remember, ads are first and foremost about selling a product. While the new reality angle is refreshing and new, it’s also very funny and we need that in an ad about something as personal as feminine hygiene products. This is a commercial even guys can appreciate and laugh at (but probably not out loud). It doesn’t talk down to women. Those other commercials with the women swaying in the breeze never offended me, though, because I always understood they were just trying to make me associate the product with a better feeling than bitchy crampiness. I don’t think most women took them too literally. I think this new ad is smart and I liked it from the moment I saw it on TV, don’t get me wrong, I just still see it as a new way to grab attention and sell a product.