While sterile blue liquid will probably remain a staple of female hygiene television ads, Always has taken a small step towards reality by creating a print ad that represents blood. Somewhat. The campaign, seen above, features an Always pad with a small red dot trapped (or neatly placed) inside a maze. Advertising expert/blogger Copyranter referred to the ad as a “historical advertising move”.
However, this bit of period pride is nothing new to Always’ competitor Kotex. The brand has been featuring the red dot on their packaging and in their ads since the launch of their cleverly named ‘Red Dot’ campaign in 2000. What makes Always’ new print ad buzzworthy is that the red dot is seen right in the middle of the pad, instead of being hidden as a design element in an otherwise safe, vanilla ad.
Above: The Kotex logo with the infamous red dot
In French ads, Tampax has already acknowledged the monthly presence of blood, as has o.b. in Switzerland, according to Copyranter. But neither ad shows blood or any sort of red; the French ad shows a woman swimming happily amongst sharks and Dracula sports tampon teeth in the Swiss ad.
Today’s American feminine hygiene ads have ways to go (“No, little Sally, you DON’T pee a gush of blue raspberry Kool-Aid”), but this new print ad – though perhaps a little too neat, small, and clean – could be the launching pad for more proper public representation of menstruation. On the other hand, a true-to-life display of periods – heavy flow, clots, chunks, etc. – may still be too intense for most of us.
Source: The Huffington Post
