"Have a happy period. Always." Probably not.

I remember a commercial for Kotex coming out a while back that took all of the clichés from feminine hygiene product advertisements and turned them into a parody. The actress in the commercial feigned that typical commercials for feminine hygiene products made sense, and that such products made her period enjoyable. Through the ad, the concept of a “sisterhood” was established by only including females who appeared to be the best of friends. Snippets of other feminine hygiene product ads were shown to add to the desired comedic effect, such as women dancing, playing on a beach, and spending time with their cats.

The snippets used in the advertisement showed beautiful women who were loving their lives in all of their feminine glory. This would create a hayday for Pozner, who would see the actresses used for the advertisement and point out that all of them are forced to live up to a standard of beauty that the advertising industry has created. Kilbourne’s reaction would be similar, as none of the women appeared to be overweight and the lighting was fabricated to the point that it was unrealistic. Women were made to appear fantasised, as if they were not even real women.

The idea of a “sisterhood” is incredibly popular in advertisements for feminine hygiene products. It is most likely used because during “that time of the month,” women tend to want to bond with one another and feel each other’s pain, so to speak. With the exception of the aforementioned Kotex ad, I personally believe that ads for feminine hygiene products are absolutely ridiculous and do not convince any women to buy the product. Feminine hygiene products are necessary to all women at one point in time, so they will be bought regardless of the supposed “sisterhood” shown on television.

The models used to display this “sisterhood” appear to all look similar in that they are thin, tanned, and beautiful. Take for instance, the following Playtex sport advert:

While tampons are used by almost all women at one time or another, the advertisement emphasises through the models in the image that only beautiful women play sports and therefore need tampons. Through the tagline in the advert, “Game time. Any time,” Playtex insinuates that sports are only possible for women if they use these specific “sport” tampons. And without physical activity during that time of the month, it would be impossible to be one of the beautiful tanned women in the image.

According to Solomon, “ads should be in the realm of fantasy, not realism”. Unfortunately this is not evident in the Playtex advert, nor is it in the following Tampax video:

Similarly to the Playtex print ad, the Tampax video focuses on a “sisterhood” between attractive women who all use the product. While there are men in the ad, they take a background role as images of laughing women take over the screen. As a woman myself, I can honestly say that even if I used Tampax, I probably would not feel like laughing as part of a “sisterhood” during my period. That’s just not how it works.

Finally, I would like to comment on the tagline, "Have a happy period. Always." 

This tagline is simply insane. It puts down women for making them seem like horrible, moody people once a month. And with the help of this product, they could be perfect all the time. This is a comment on gender roles that is entirely misogynistic. It insinuates that women are to be constantly cheerful and willing to be wonderful at all hours of the day. This is impossible for any sane human being, and therefore shouldn't be used as means of manipulation to buy a product. 

This is why I feel that the Kotex ad that makes a mockery of all other feminine hygiene product advertisements is effective. It eliminates the too common idea of an eerily happy “sisterhood” and replaces it with the idea that other advertisements are ridiculous. The product won’t be life-changing and make your period a happy time, but it will essentially do the job it needs to do.