Challenging the Menstrual Shame Game: An Ad Analysis

The marketing of feminine hygiene products has come to be touchy subject matter among women. More in tune than ever with advertisers' intentions, today's young women are bored and jaded by the traditional, contrived marketing schemes of big tampon companies. In 2010, when other tampon brands were advertising hearts, flowers and eternal beach parties, the formerly-modest Kotex created U by Kotex, an outspoken brand with one simple message: Kotex tampons are cool, and nothing to be ashamed of.

In a series of print ads and TV commercials, Kotex attempted to “break the cycle” of everything young women had ever been told about their periods, and construct new ideas: namely, that there's no shame in the menstruation game. The ad campaign was a hit among young women and had other big-name tampon brands chasing their tails. Tampax, whose catchphrase is a zealous “outsmart mother nature!” created a print ad to counter Kotex's message, but found very little success. Kotex's blase approach to advertising couldn't be “outsmarted” so easily.

One of the most effective U by Kotex print ads features an image of a woman's arm carrying a purse made of clear plastic, its content visible to the viewer. Among combs, sunglasses and wallets we can see the cute little black box of Kotex tampons. The upper left corner reads, “If I had something to hide, I'd carry a safe,” in large, all-caps lettering, with the latter part a striking yellow to match the colours on the tampon box. Towards the bottom of the page is the brand's clever slogan, “Break the cycle,” beside boxes of Kotex tampons, pads and liners. In addition to what is being said explicitly in the ad, it is important to note the aesthetic elements. The bright yellow in the tagline, a cleverly gender-neutral colour, suggests boldness. A soft pink might have promoted a more calm, relaxed atmosphere, and may have suited the ad according to gender constructs, but that's not what Kotex is going for. The font itself further hints at an intention for boldness: the block letters are a sharp contrast to other tampon ads, which typically feature more dainty typefaces.

The faceless woman in the ad is supposed to appeal to viewers as “everygirl.” It is not clear how old she is or what social/ethnic group she belongs to, so we identify with her as if she were us. She is, in fact, a by-product of us: her confident statement in the tagline reflects every young woman's quiet desire to not be ashamed of her period. The viewer is to feel inspired by this cool everygirl and realize that she too has nothing to hide; she too can carry around Kotex like an accessory and feel good about it. The classic cluttered purse is, in this case, representative of a girl on the go, a girl who isn't ashamed of or held back by menstruation. This ad screams no-nonsense: a message that women are not accustomed to hearing, but would perhaps like to see more of when it comes to female hygiene products.

Kotex long had the reputation of being a no-frills brand, with simple ads designed to target an audience of primarily older women who are less affected by glamourized tampon advertising. Obviously marketers realized that with some slight changes, this strategy could also appeal to millennials, and even younger women. Teenagers, hipsters and feminist types don't relate well to the evasive, theatrical techniques so commonly employed in tampon ads. Things like peppy catchphrases, happy beach scenes, blue blood and overall beating around the bush aren't good for anything but pissing young hormonal girls off. They know that periods are not pleasant as advertisements make them seem, and that no tampon brand alone will ease the wrath of menstruation, in spite of what they may claim. U by Kotex, for their part, doesn't make any hefty promises besides that their tampons will look cute in your purse, that your period is nothing to be ashamed of, and that Kotex is here for “U.” In aesthetics and attitude, U by Kotex makes tampons seem cool.

This is where other tampon brands fail to deliver. Tampax mocked Kotex in one of their “Moment like this” ads, but were not particularly successful because in addition to its lack of originality, the ad continues to push the “buy our tampons and your period will be like this” agenda. It is the epitome of what Kotex makes fun of: in the focus is a young, white, attractive bikini-clad woman, surrounded by other attractive people, doing the limbo under a stick at a beach party. “At a moment like this, I don't care if my tampons came in a little black box,” the tagline reads, “I just want 'em to work.” At the bottom of the page: “Tampax Pearl with Cleanguard protects BETTER than U by Kotex.” The message in the ad is clear: Tampax is a reliable, better brand. And maybe they truly are. But why did they resort to corny stereotypes to prove it? Tampax has given themselves an exceptionally small target audience: attractive blonde twentysomethings who frequent beach parties, who aren't turned-off by this kind of advertising. Tampax chooses to ignore the physical, emotional and political realities of menstruation in favour of a conventionally “pretty” ad, and doesn't measure up to Kotex. Most girls know that periods are no beach party.

U by Kotex and Tampax are both the culmination of hundreds of hours of work by marketing specialists, and were both made for little other reason than to sell – yet one brand managed to convince a young, ad-resistant audience otherwise. How? There's no denying that U by Kotex's cool factor is very carefully curated, yet even I found myself drawn in by it. So what did it, those little black boxes or the bold attitude? Both, but there is also something even bigger at work. U by Kotex quietly brings forth a quality that most other advertisements lack – a sense of self-awareness. We get the sense that U by Kotex ads are very aware of the fact that they're ads – and are trying not to be. The taglines, brief and conversational, never boast any 'technical' information or product strengths that might make the viewer remember they're looking at a product ad, and potentially turn the page.

I’ve spent much of my word count flattering Kotex’s creative approach to tampon advertising. While I do believe that most of that praise is warranted, it’s worth noting that no brand is one hundred percent effective in appealing to its target audience. So which viewers might have hopped off the cool Kotex bandwagon, and why? Perhaps Kotex’s cynical upon cynical, meta-hipster audience -- especially attuned to advertising techniques -- may have been turned off by the “cool” factor this advertising campaign employs. Another ad of the same campaign features a similar layout but with the tagline “Wouldn’t it be nice if your next trip to the checkout began with Hey, cool tampons,” which, like my original ad, boasts a loaded, perhaps overconfident statement. Ads like these ones may draw resistance from an audience who thinks marketers are milking it and trying just a little bit too hard. Additionally, some less politically-minded women might not latch onto the bold, “break the cycle” ethos that Kotex tries to push, encouraging women to think critically about the messages they’re receiving from the media, their mothers and men. Some more conservative women may not feel comfortable with the idea of coming out of hiding where menstruation is concerned, and may not totally understand just what “cycle” needs to be broken.

Overall, however, I believe Kotex was wise to tap into the political side of menstruation and feminine hygiene marketing, which the good majority of their target audience is attuned to. Social issues, especially women's issues, are always hot topics among young people, but aren't utilized by advertisers as much as they could be. While other brands strive to appeal to the viewer's needs and wants, Kotex takes on the abstract, challenging the state of the world we live in: particularly, the stigma, shame and misinformation that surround periods. “If I had something to hide, I'd carry a safe” is an excellent, relevant tagline. With hints of feminism, the message to and from young women is clear: we're here, we menstruate, and we aren't ashamed of it.